BEL and others -v- Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (transmission direction order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionTransmission Direction Order

Case number: AC-2025-LON-000997

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

23 May 2025

Before:

The Hon. Mr Justice Chamberlain

Between:

The King
on the application of
(1) BEL
(2) BEB
(3) BCC
(4) BEC
(5) BKJ (by her litigation friend BSJ)
(6) BDM (by his litigation friend BSJ)

-v-

Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

Order

Of the court’s own motion;

Following consideration of: (i) the parties’ skeleton arguments; (ii) the Order of Mr Justice Mould of 4 April 2025, inter alia making provision for the anonymity of the claimants and making a restricted reporting order under s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981; and (iii) the Order of Mr Justice Mould of 14 April 2025, inter alia fixing a rolled-up hearing on 5 June 2025, with a time estimate of 1 day;

ORDER BY THE HON. MR JUSTICE CHAMBERLAIN

  1. Any request for a direction under s. 85A(3)(b) of the Courts Act 2003 (“a transmission direction request”) by a person not taking part in the proceedings (“an applicant”) for permission to watch or listen to the proceedings remotely must be made by 10am on Wednesday 4 June 2025.
  2. Any transmission direction request should be sent by email to the Administrative Court List Office at administrativecourtoffice.listoffice@justice.gov.uk and must include the following:

(a) the full name of the applicant;

(b) the email address of the applicant;

(c) whether the applicant will be located within the jurisdiction of England and Wales at all times when attending the proceedings remotely (if a transmission direction were to be made); and, if not, details of the applicant’s location;

(d) any information the applicant wishes to provide in support of the request, including in particular any reason(s) why it is contended that making such a direction would be in the interests of justice; and

(e) a statement by the applicant in the following terms: “If permitted to attend the hearing remotely, I understand that I must not record or transmit what I see and hear. I understand that it is an offence and may be a contempt of court to do so, and that I may be punished if I were to do so.”

  1. Unless exceptionally the Court otherwise directs, a transmission direction request made otherwise than in accordance with this Order will not be granted.

REASONS

(1) The claimants are a Palestinian family resident in Gaza. They have a family member, BSJ, who is a British citizen resident in the UK. They applied for entry clearance on the basis of their and BSJ’s right to respect for their family life under Article 8 ECHR. This was refused. An appeal to the First-tier Tribunal failed, but the Upper Tribunal allowed an appeal, holding that the Home Secretary should grant entry clearance to the claimants outside the Immigration Rules on Article 8 grounds. The Home Secretary has since indicated that she is minded to grant the claimants entry clearance subject to satisfactory security and background checks, after they have attended a visa application centre and enrolled their biometric data. To do this, the claimants need consular support to leave Gaza. Their request to the Foreign Secretary for consular support was refused on 12 March 2025. This claim challenges that decision.

(2) This case may attract media attention. This Order is made to ensure that any transmission direction requests are made in a timely manner, to enable them to be considered and determined prior to the trial, and to ensure that any such requests are accompanied by the necessary information.

Signed: MR JUSTICE CHAMBERLAIN
Date: 23/05/25