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

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2024-LDS-230

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

31 January 2025

Before:

The Hon Mrs Justice Hill DBE

Between:

The King on the application of
BVT

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department

and

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
(Interested party)

Order

Following consideration of the documents filed by the Claimant including an application for anonymity and the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence, no such document having been filed by the Interested Party

                 ORDER BY THE HON. MRS JUSTICE HILL DBE

  1. The Claimant in this matter is entitled to anonymity until further order and there must be substituted for all purposes in this claim in place of references to the Claimant by name, and whether orally or in writing, reference to “BVT”.
  2. A non-party may not inspect or obtain a copy of any document from the court file other than this order (duly anonymised) without the permission of the Court. Any application for such permission must be made on notice to the Claimant.
  3. A non-party may not obtain any copy statement of case or other document from the Court file unless it has been edited (anonymised) in accordance with this direction.
  4. Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and the Contempt of Court Act 1981, s.11 the publication or disclosure of the identity of the Claimant or of any material tending to identify the Claimant shall be prohibited.
  5. The Court’s CE-file system shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 31 January 2025 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.”
  6. The Defendant or any non-party affected by this anonymity order may on 7 days’ notice to set it aside or vary it.
  7. The costs of obtaining this order shall be costs in the case.
  8. Pursuant to CPR 39.2(5) and the Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders 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

Reasons

  1. The Claimant’s case is that his date of birth was 8 August 2006, making him now 19. By this claim he challenges the Defendant’s assessment of his age. He contends that he was the victim of trafficking and arrived in the UK as a putative unaccompanied young person. His trafficking and asylum claims remain outstanding.
  2. It is widely recognised that children should be afforded anonymity: see, for example, the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, s.49; the Children Act 1989, s.97(2) and Presidential Guidance Note No2 of 2022 for the First Tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber.
  3. There is a presumption in favour of anonymity in cases involving asylum seekers, see Practice Note (Court of Appeal: Asylum and Immigration Cases) [2006] 1 WLR 2461.
  4. I have applied the approach set out in XXX v London Borough of Camden [2020] 4 WLR 165. Having considered the Article 8 rights of the Claimant and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression, as well as the open justice principle, I am satisfied that (i) non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant is strictly necessary in order to secure the proper administration of justice and protect the interests of the Claimant; and (ii) there is insufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure of his identity to justify interfering with his Article 8 rights.