BLC -v- Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (anonymity order)

High CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim Number: QB-2020-000676

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division

18 March 2023

Before:
Her Honour Judge Sarah Richardson

Between:

BLC
(A child, by her Litigation Friend, FJH)

-v-

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

Anonymity Order

BEFORE Her Honour Judge Sarah Richardson, sitting as a Judge of the High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

UPON hearing Leading Counsel and Junior Counsel (Mr Richard Baker KC and Mr Craig Carr) and for the claimant, and Leading Counsel (Ms Margaret Bowron KC) for the defendant.

AND UPON the application notice dated 5 March for anonymity.

AND UPON:
(1) Consideration of the Article 8 rights of the Claimant to respect for private and family life, and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression.

(2) It appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of the Claimant and that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure.

AND PURSUANT to section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and CPR rules 5.4C, 5.4D and 39.2(4).

WHEREAS for the purposes of this order:
(i) ‘Publication’ includes any speech, writing, broadcast, or other communication in whatever form (including internet and social media), which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public.

(ii) Publication for the purpose of this Order includes any further publication (as defined in subparagraph (i) above) from the date of this Order, even if such information has derived from a previous stage or stages of these proceedings.

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

  1. The identity of the Claimant as a party to these proceedings is confidential and shall not be published.
  2. Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings or other publication the name or address of the Claimant, the Claimant’s Litigation Friend or other immediate family members, or any details (including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts) that could lead to the identification of BLC as the Claimant in these proceedings. The Claimant and the Litigation Friend shall be referred to as set out at paragraph 3 of this Order.
  3. In any judgment or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto:
    (i) The Claimant shall be referred to as “BLC”.
    (ii) The Litigation Friend shall be referred to as “FJH”.
    (iii) Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the Claimant (including any names of other immediate family members or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication.
  4. Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
    (i) A person who is not a party to the proceedings may not obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgment or order from the Court records unless the statement of case, judgment or order has been anonymised in accordance with subparagraphs 3(i) to (iii) above.
    (ii) If a person who is not a party to the proceedings applies (pursuant to CPR r.5.4C(1B) or (2)) for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of any other document or communication, such application shall be on at least 7 days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitor, trustee or deputy.
  5. The Claimant’s solicitor shall file with the Court an electronic (PDF) bundle of the statements of case that has been anonymised in accordance with paragraph 3 above by 4pm 8 April 2024 and re-filed in the event that any statement of case is amended, within 21 days of such amendment being approved.
  6. The Court’s paper and electronic files shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 18 March 2024 and any application by a non-party to inspect or obtain a copy document from this file must be dealt with in accordance with the terms of that Order.”
  7. Any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or discharge this Order, provided that any such application is made on 7 days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitor, trustee or deputy.
  8. Pursuant to the ‘Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders’ issued by the Master of the Rolls dated 16 April 2019 a copy of this Order shall be published on the Judicial Website of the High Court of Justice (www.judiciary.uk). For that purpose, a court officer will send a copy of the order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk.
  9. Costs in the case.

Dated this 18th day of March 2024

EXPLANATORY NOTE

  1. This Form is designed for use in personal injury and clinical negligence cases in which the claimant is a child or a protected party whose interests are assessed to require their identity to be kept confidential.
  2. The Form assumes that the party to be anonymised is the claimant. Adjustment will be required where that is not the case; for example where the order is to protect dependant children in a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.
  3. For the HMCTS computer system, the anonymised name of the claimant should be three letters. These should not be the same letter, nor consecutive letters: so avoid, e.g. XXX, WWW, ABC, PQR, etc.].
  4. The heading should be anonymised in the order itself, once made, as the general provision in the Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders dated 16 April 2019 is for the orders to be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales (as also provided at paragraph 8 of the Form).