March 18, 2025

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

Administrative Court High Court King's Bench Division Anonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2025-LON-000088

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

18 March 2025

Before:

Andrew Kinnier KC, sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court

Between:

The King on the application of
EDF

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department

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, the Claimant’s application for anonymity (contained in her Detailed Grounds), the Defendant’s application (dated 6 February 2025) for an extension of time for service of the Acknowledgement of Service and the Claimant’s application (dated 26 February 2025) for permission to rely on an English translation of her witness statement

ORDER BY ANDREW KINNIER K.C.
(Sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)

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 “EDF”.
(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.

2. The parties’ other applications:
(a) The Defendant’s application for an extension of time to 18 February 2025 to serve her Acknowledgement of Service is allowed.
(b) To the extent that it is necessary to grant permission, the Claimant’s application for permission to rely on an English translation of her witness statement is allowed.

3. Permission to apply for judicial review: Permission is granted on all grounds.

4. Case Management Directions:
(a) The Defendant must, within 35 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (i) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds and (ii) any written evidence to be relied on.
(b) The Defendant may comply with sub-paragraph (a)(i) above by filing and serving a document which states that its Summary Grounds are to stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
(c) Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply must be filed and served, together with a copy of that evidence, within 21 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to (a) above.
(d) The parties must agree the contents of the hearing bundle. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared and lodged, in accordance with the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide Chapter 21 and the Guidance on the Administrative Court website, not less than 28 days before the date of the substantive hearing. The parties must, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hard copy versions of the hearing bundle.
(e) The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 21 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
(f) The Defendant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 14 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
(g) The parties must agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties must, if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, must be lodged with the Court not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.
(h) The time estimate for the substantive hearing is 1 day. If either party considers that this time estimate should be varied, they must inform the court as soon as possible.

Observations and reasons

(1) Anonymity: There is evidence that the Claimant is a victim of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The claim relies on personal medical information
(2) in which the Claimant has a reasonable expectation of privacy. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice.
(3) The Defendant’s application: the claim is factually and legally complex and so an extension of time for preparation of the Summary Grounds was required and no prejudice was caused by allowing the application to which the Claimant did not object.
(4) The Claimant’s application: to the extent that permission is required and absence any prejudice that would be caused by allowing it, the application is allowed.