EC -v- Essex County Council (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2025-LON-00044
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
27 February 2025
Before:
David Pittaway KC
Between:
The King on the application of
(EC by her litigation friend KC)
-v-
Essex County Council
Order
On an application by the Claimant for an anonymity order and case management
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Defendant including the Defendant’s Reply
ORDER BY DAVID PITTAWAY KC SITTING AS A DEPUTY HIGH COURT JUDGE
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 and the Litigation Friend’s names 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 EC and the Litigation Friend as KC.
(b) Pursuant to s. 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or Litigation Friend of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or Litigation Friend 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 or Litigation Friend;
(ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or Litigation Friend;, 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.
2. Expedition: The application for expedition is granted.
3. The Defendant shall file and serve, if so advised, an Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence within 14 days of the date of service of this Order.
4. The Claimant shall file and serve, if so advised, a response to the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence within 7 days of the Defendant’s documents having been filed and served, which must comply with CPR Rule 54.8A.
5. The papers are to be referred to a Judge or Deputy Judge, on the first available date after 21 days, for a decision on whether to grant permission to apply for judicial review or order a rolled-up hearing immediately thereafter.
6. The parties shall have liberty to apply to vary or set aside this order on two working days’ notice to the other parties.
7. Costs: Reserved
Reasons
(1) Anonymity: The Claimant is a vulnerable disabled child. The claim is brought on her behalf by her mother to obtain appropriate educational provision. The claim relies on personal medical information, needs and support for which the Claimant has a reasonable expectation of privacy. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.
(2) Expedition I accept the submissions made that the Claimant who has disabilities and SEN, has been described as having a “very complex profile”. I also accept that the Claimant may have gone for a significant period of time without the support she needs being in place, which is different from the Defendant’s submission that she is in education. It is significant that she is currently not engaging with her education provider. The matters above are to be read in the context that (a) the Defendant’s alleged breaches have been ongoing for a significant period of time; (b) where the Defendant’s decision is unknown, there is the potential for further dispute and delay. In my view the claim should be expedited to the extent set out above