BA -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2024-LON-001041

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court

26 March 2024

Before:

The Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE

Between;

The King on the application of
BA

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department
(HO Ref: MST/8019874)

Order

On the Claimant’s application for urgent consideration and interim relief;
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant;

Order by the Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE

  1. Pursuant to CPR r.39.2, in any report of these proceedings, there shall be no publication of the name and address of the Claimant, nor any other particulars likely to lead to his identification. In the proceedings, the Claimant shall be anonymised and referred to as “BA”.
  2. No later than 7 days from the date of service of this order, the Claimant’s solicitors shall file with the Court copies of case documents which have been anonymised and/or redacted to protect the identity of the Claimant, in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
  3. Non-parties may not obtain any documents from the court file which have not been anonymised and/or redacted to protect the identity of the Claimant, in accordance with paragraph 1 above, save with the leave of the Court.
  4. The Defendant shall file and serve an Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Resistance, together with a response to the application for interim relief, no later than 14 days from the date of service of this order.
  5. The Claimant may file and serve a Reply no later than 7 days from the date of service of the documents referred to in paragraph 4 of this order.
  6. There shall be an oral hearing for interim relief on a date to be fixed as soon as possible after 18 April 2024. Time estimate: 2½ hours.
  7. The Claimant shall file and serve a bundle of authorities, both electronically and in hard copy, no later than 5 days before the date of the hearing.
  8. Liberty to apply to vary or discharge this order on 2 days notice to the other party.
  9. Costs reserved.

Reasons

  1. The Claimant challenges the suitability of his accommodation at Wethersfield Airfield which he claims is causing a deterioration in his mental and physical health conditions.
  2. He alleges that the Defendant is failing to operate a rational or effective policy or process for assessing the suitability of asylum seekers and that there is an ongoing failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.
  3. The Claimant has applied for an oral hearing for interim relief. However the proposed timetable is wholly unrealistic. The Defendant cannot possibly file a meaningful response by Tuesday 2 April 2024, bearing in mind the public holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday. A token response, merely in order to comply with a court order, will not provide the Judge with the information needed to make a fair determination. The Defendant should also be given a fair opportunity to set out his defence in this complex and sensitive case.
  4. Interim relief can only be granted where there is a serious question to be tried. That means that the Court has to assess the merits of the claim before it considers whether the balance of convenience lies in favour of the grant of interim relief. Therefore the judge at the interim relief hearing needs to see the Defendant’s Summary Grounds of Defence, responding to the Statement of Facts and Grounds. The Claimant may also wish to file a Reply.
  5. In recognition of the urgency of the matter, I have abridged time for the filing of the Defendant’s Acknowledgment of Service, and directed that an oral hearing be listed once the Claimant has had an opportunity to file a Reply.
  6. An anonymity order has been made as the Claimant is an asylum seeker and may be at risk if his identity is disclosed. In these circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.