BKO -v- Secretary of State for Defence (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2025-LON-002291

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

22 July 2025

Before:

The Honourable Mr Justice Lavender

Between:

The King
on the application of
BKO
(Claimant)

-v-

Secretary of State for Defence
(Defendant)

and

(1) BME
(2) BMF
(3) BRA
(4) BUH
(5) BYF
(Interested Parties)

Order

On an application by the Claimant for orders for anonymity and for expedition

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER by the Honourable Mr Justice Lavender

Anonymity

  1. Under the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and pursuant to section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:

(a) the names of the Claimant and the Interested Parties are to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public;

(b) the Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as “BKO”; and

(c) the Interested Parties are to be referred to orally and in writing as BME, BMF, BRA, BUH and BYF.

  1. Pursuant to section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or of any of the Interested Parties or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of any of them in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.
  1. Pursuant to CPR 5.4C(4):

(a) the parties must within 7 days file and serve a redacted copy of any statement of case already filed, omitting the name, address and any other information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or any of the Interested Parties;

(b) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or any of the Interested Parties, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time and must then be served with the unredacted version; and

(c) unless the Court grants permission under CPR 5.4C(6), no non- party many obtain a copy of any unredacted statement of case.

  1. Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application, served on each party.

Expedition

5. The papers are to be placed before a judge for consideration of the application for permission as soon as possible after the filing of the Acknowledgment of Service.

Reasons

  1. The risk of serious harm to the Claimant and the Interested Parties in Afghanistan justifies both the order for anonymity and the order for expedition.
  2. However, since the application has unfortunately not been considered until today, it would not be appropriate to abridge the time for filing the Acknowledgment of Service.

Signed: Nicholas Lavender
Dated: 22 July 2025