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

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2025-LON-002567

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

4 August 2025

Before:

The Hon. Mr Justice Dexter Dias

Between:

The King
on the application of
CDU
(anonymity order granted 4 August 2025)

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department

On an application by the Claimant for interim relief

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER BY THE HON. Mr Justice Dexter Dias

    1. 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 CDU.

    (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.

    1. Abridgement of time and expedition:

    (a) The Defendant’s response to the interim relief application must be filed and served by 4pm on 8 August 2025.

    (b) Any Reply from the Claimant (CPR 54.8A) must be filed and served by 4pm on 11 August 2025.

    (c) The matter to be reviewed on the papers by the first available judge after 11 August 2025 to decide whether the application can be determined on the papers then before the court or whether there should be an inter partes hearing.

    (d) Costs reserved.

    (e) Liberty to apply.

    REASONS

    (1) Anonymity: The claim relies on deeply personal information in which the Claimant has a reasonable expectation of privacy, including the fact that he is a victim of human trafficking (conclusive grounds decision 13 July 2021). At various points, in the papers anonymisation has been used. For the absence of doubt, anonymisation is necessary and proportionate. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice set out in para 1 of this order.

    (2) Abridgement of time/expedition: I judge that a degree of expedition is justified given the precarious situation of the claimant. However, the granting of an interim mandatory order without any response from the defendant is excessive. The defendant must be granted a proper opportunity to respond. Therefore, the directions made in para 2 above seek to achieve the twin objectives of accelerating consideration of the application while ensuring procedural fairness.

    Signed: Mr Justice Dexter Dias
    Date: 4 August 2025