DSA -v- Manchester City Council (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtCivilHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2025-MAN-000071

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

22 April 2025

Before:

Mr CMG Ockelton
sitting as a judge of the High Court

Between:

The King
on the application of
DSA
(anonymity granted: see below)

-v-

Manchester City Council

Order

Notification of Judge’s Decision (CPR 54.11, 54.12)

Following consideration of the documents filed by the Claimant, the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence and the Claimant’s Reply

ORDER BY MR C M G OCKELTON sitting as a judge of the High Court 17/04/2025

  1. Anonymity:
    (a) Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4) and the Court’s inherent jurisdiction
    (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 DSA.
    (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 may 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.
  2. Permission to apply for judicial review: Permission is granted on all grounds
  3. Further Submission by Defendant: The Defendant has permission if so advised to file a Supplementary Summary of Grounds no later than 12 May 2025.
  4. Case Management Directions:
    This claim is transferred to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), which will make all further Directions and Decisions.

OBSERVATIONS AND REASONS

(1) Anonymity: The claimant claims to be a minor and relies on personal information in which he has a reasonable expectation of privacy if (but only if) his claim is made out. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.
(2) The claim as it stands presents a serious issue to be tried but I am not persuaded that it meets the threshold for interim relief.
(3) No useful purpose will be served by awaiting the result of the forgery investigation before dealing with permission. If the document has been tampered with, that will no doubt affect judgments on the claimant’s credibility, but his claim to a date of birth in 2008 will still need to be determined. If it has not been tampered with, it may nevertheless be of limited relevance in determining his actual age as it does not carry any guarantee that its contents are correct.
(4) Given the explanation provided, I am content to treat this claim as in time.

Signed: C M G Ockelton