BAA -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-003827
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
25 June 2025
Before:
Christopher Kennedy KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
Between:
The King on the application of
BAA
-v-
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Order
Notification of Judge’s Decision (CPR 54.11, 54.12)
Following consideration of the documents filed by the Claimant, the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence and the Claimant’s Reply
- Anonymity:
(a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or s. 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:
(i) the Claimant’s name is to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public; and
(ii) the Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as BAA.
(b) Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.
(c) Pursuant to CPR 5.4C(4):
(i) the parties must within 7 days file a redacted copy of any statement of case filed, omitting the name, address and any other information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant;
(ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time;
(iii) unless the Court grants permission under CPR 5.4C(6), no non-party many obtain a copy of any unredacted statement of case.
(d) Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application, served on each party.
- Permission to apply for judicial review: Permission is granted on all grounds.
- Case Management Directions:
(a) The Defendant’s application for an extension of time to file and serve her Acknowledgment of Service and summary grounds of defence and evidence is granted.
(b) The Claimant shall be permitted to amend her Detailed Statement of facts and grounds in accordance with the Amended Detailed Statement dated 5 February 2025.
(c) The Defendant must, within 35 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (i) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds and (ii) any written evidence to be relied on.
(d) The Defendant may comply with sub-paragraph (a)(i) above by filing and serving a document which states that its Summary Grounds are to stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
(e) Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply must be filed and served, together with a copy of that evidence, within 21 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to (a) above.
(f) The parties must agree the contents of the hearing bundle. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared and lodged, in accordance with the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide Chapter 21 and the Guidance on the Administrative Court website, not less than 28 days before the date of the substantive hearing. The parties must, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle.
(g) The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 21 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
(h) The Defendant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 14 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
(i) The parties must agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties must, if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, must be lodged with the Court not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
(j) The time estimate for the substantive hearing is 1 day. If either party considers that this time estimate should be varied, they must inform the court as soon as possible.
Observations and reasons
(1) I accept the arguments for an anonymity order set out at §1-2 of the Claimant’s Amended Statement of facts and grounds.
(2) Grounds 1 and 2 are clearly arguable. There is a substantial overlap between those grounds and the grounds on which the Claimant in AC-2024-LON-001587 sought review of a similar Public Order Disqualification. The judgment of Morris J. in that case is understood to have been reserved. It may be available before the hearing in this matter. If so, it is likely to assist the parties and the court.
(3) It is arguable that irrational significance was attached to the Claimant’s status as a prisoner when determining whether she was at real and immediate risk of being trafficked (Ground 3).
(4) In relation to the application to amend, I accept that the Claimant was unaware of the evidence which supported grounds 4 and 5 until 29 January 2025. It acted promptly thereafter. It is reasonably arguable that the disqualification was discriminatory on grounds of race (nationality).
(5) It is arguable that there is a conflict between the statutory guidance on the exercise of the discretion under section 63(1) Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the terms of the act itself (grounds 6 and 7). These grounds could have been raised at the same time as the original grounds. The Defendant has not made any submissions in relation to the application to amend which it has had since February 2025. I find it has not been prejudiced by their inclusion and it is in the interests of justice that the amendments be permitted.