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

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2025-LON-003213

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

25 September 2025

Before:

The Honourable Mr Justice Swift

Between:

The King
on the application of
CLL
(Claimant)

-v-

Secretary of State for Defence
(Defendant)

and

(1) CNE
(2) CWL
(Interested Parties)

Order

On applications by the Claimant for anonymity and for expedition

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER by The Honourable Mr Justice Swift

  1. 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, and the names of the First and Second Interested Parties are 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 CLL, the First Interested Party as CNE, and the Second Interested Party as CWL.

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

    (iii) 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 or the First or Second Interested Parties;

    (iv) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or any of the First or Second Interested Parties, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time;

    (v) 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 paragraphs 1 – 3 of this Order must make an application, served on each party.
    2. The Defendant shall file and serve his Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence by 4pm on 9 October 2025.
    3. The Claimant shall have permission to file and serve a Reply, if so advised, within 3 days of the date on which the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service is served.
    4. The claim shall be put before a Judge as soon as possible thereafter, for a decision on permission, on the papers.
    5. Costs in the case

    Reasons

    1. This claim concerns an application by the Claimant that his sons should be relocated from Afghanistan to the United Kingdom. Various applications have been made to this end since February 2023. Decisions refusing applications have been made by the Defendant on 5 April 2023; 12 September 2024 (a review of the April 2023 refusal decision); and 4 June 2025 (refusing a second application made in December 2024). On 9 June 2025 the Claimant requested a review of the 4 June 2025 decision and asked that the review process be expedited. The Claimant contends that those requests have been repeated on several occasions (including in pre-action correspondence), but that (a) no decision has been made on the request for expedition; and (b) the review application remains outstanding.
    2. The Claimant applies for anonymity, for himself and the Interested Parties. The grounds on which the application is made are set out in the Claim Form. I accept there is good reason to anonymise these parties.
    3. The Claimant also seeks modest expedition of the claim. Since the issue in this case appears to be very limited, the expedition requested is appropriate and will not prejudice the Defendant’s opportunity to respond to the ground of challenge. This will require him to explain why a decision has not been made either on the request for expedition of the review process, or on the review itself.

    Date: 25 September 2025