ECL and another -v- City and County of Swansea (anonymity order)

County CourtAnonymity Order

Claim number: J01LS967

In the County Court at Leeds

16 July 2026

Before:

Deputy District Judge Vodanovic

Between:

‘ECL’ (LF OFFICIAL SOLICITOR AT POST POINT)

‘SJL’ (LF OFFICIAL SOLICITOR AT POST POINT)

-v-

CITY AND COUNTY OF SWANSEA

Order

Before Deputy District Judge Vodanovic sitting at the County Court at Leeds, Leeds Combined Court Centre, The Courthouse, 1 Oxford Row, Leeds, LS1 3BG.

UPON hearing the Solicitor for the 1st and 2nd Claimants and the Solicitor for the Defendant

And Upon considering the Application Notice

1) Consideration of the Article 8 rights of the 1st and 2nd Claimants to respect for private and family life, and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression

2) It appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the 1st and 2nd Claimants is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of the 1st and 2nd Claimants and that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure

3) The Defendant indicating its neutrality to the making of the Order and there being no representations from the press or any other interested party

And Pursuant to Section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998; Section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981; and CPR rules 5.4C, 5.4D and 39.2(4)

WHEREAS for the purposes of this Order:
1) ‘Publication’ includes any speech, writing, broadcast, or other communication in whatever form (including internet and social media), which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public
2) Publication for the purpose of this Order includes any further publication (as defined in subparagraph (1) above) from the date of this Order, even if such information has derived from a previous stage or stages of these proceedings

IT IS ORDERED THAT

  1. The identity of the First and Second Claimants as parties to these proceedings is confidential and shall not be published;
  2. Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.4(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings or other publication the name or address of the First and Second Claimants or other immediate family members, or any details including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts that could lead to the identification of [ECL/ SJL] as the First and Second Claimants in these proceedings. The First and Second Claimants shall be referred to as set out at Paragraph 3 of this Order;
  3. In any judgment or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto:
    i) The First Claimant shall be referred to as ‘ECL’
    ii) The Second Claimant shall be referred to as ‘SJL’
    iii) Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the First and Second Claimants (including any names of other immediate family members or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication
  4. Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
    i) A person who is not a party to the proceedings may not obtain a copy of a statement of case, Judgment or Order from the Court records unless the Statement of case, Judgment or Order has been anonymised in accordance with subparagraphs 3(i) to (ii) above
    ii) If a person who is not a party to the proceedings applies pursuant to CPR r.5.4C for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of any other document or communication, such Application shall be on at least 7 days’ notice to the First and Second Claimant’s Solicitor, First and Second Claimant’s Litigation Friend in these proceedings;
  5. The First and Second Claimant’s Solicitor shall file with the Court an electronic (PDF) bundle of the statements of case that has been anonymised in accordance with Paragraph 3 above by 21 July 2026, and re-filed in the event that any statement of case is amended, within 21 days of such amendment being approved;
  6. The Court file shall be clearly marked with the words ‘An anonymity Order was made in this case on 30 June 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’;
  7. Any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or discharge this Order, provided that any such Application is made on 7 days’ notice to the First and Second Claimant’s Solicitor, the First and Second Claimant’s Litigation Friend in these proceedings;
  8. Pursuant to the ‘Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders’ issued by the Master of the Rolls dated 16 April 2019 a copy of this Order shall be published on the Judicial Website of the High Court of Justice (www.justice.gov.uk). For that purpose, a Court officer will send a copy of the Order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk