ERO -v- Derby City Council (anonymity order and application for judicial review)

High CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim Number: AC-2024-BHM-000171

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

2 August 2024

Before:
HHJ Tindal
(Sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)

Between:
The King on the application of
ERO
(by his Litigation Friend Joshua Singer)
-v-
Derby City Council

Order

Notification of the Judge’s decision on the application for interim relief

After consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and Defendant

ORDER by HHJ Tindal (Sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge)

  1. Pursuant to CPR 39.2(4)) and the Court’s inherent jurisdiction:
    a. No person shall identify the Claimant in connection with these proceedings. The Claimant shall be referred to as ERO.
    b. A non-party may not obtain or inspect a copy of any Statement of Case or any other document filed with the Court and to which a non-party may have access pursuant to CPR 5.4A-D or otherwise, unless it has been produced or edited so as to comply with para.1 of this Order and/or any subsequent direction made by the Court.
    c. Anyone affected by the terms of this Order shall have permission to apply to vary or set aside any part of it, on 3 working days’ notice to the Claimant’s solicitors.
  2. Joshua Singer is appointed as the Claimant’s litigation friend pursuant to CPR 21.6
  3. The Claimant’s application for interim relief is refused.
  4. Defendant to file an Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Defence by pm on 21st August 2024.
  5. Costs in the case.

Reasons

  1. This judicial review challenges the Defendant’s age assessment on 15th March 2024 that the Claimant was an adult. He claims to be 16 years old (asserted DOB 19/03/2008). Without prejudice to the Defendant’s assessment, I am prepared to appoint Mr Singer, a charity worker, as Litigation Friend and make an anonymity order.
  2. The Claimant’s solicitors issued the claim ‘protectively’ as they put it on 14th June 2024, just within the 3 months’ deadline in CPR 54.5. This appears to confuse the procedure under CPR 7, which permits ‘Particulars of Claim’ to be filed after the Claim Form. That does not apply under CPR 54. In any event, the Claimant then purported to issue its Statement of Facts and Grounds on 4th July 2024.
  3. The Defendant contends the Claim was not properly constituted and an extension of time is required until 4th July, which should be refused. However, there was a properly constituted claim (just) within time, but it was brief. The ‘Statement of Facts and Grounds’ is in fact an application for an amendment of it, but one which shortly follows the claim and causes no prejudice whatsoever, so should be granted. (However, the Claimant’s solicitors should not mistake London authorities’ apparently relaxed approach for the terms of CPR 54).
  4. The Defendant’s March assessment that the Claimant was ‘clearly an adult’ (which was ‘non-Merton-compliant’) followed an age assessment on 6th February 2024 by Northampton CC which also concluded that the Claimant was ‘very obviously over the age of 18’ with which the Home Office further agreed. Three separate public bodies agreeing that an applicant is clearly an adult is not a promising start for an age assessment challenge. Ground 2 is the usual factual disagreement (which is permissible in this context given the Croydon line of authorities but is assertion of childhood not a strong prima facie case of it). Ground 1 is a Tameside challenge which suggests the Defendant’s very brief assessment was inadequate on various bases that do not engage with the previous authorities’ assessments. This is far from a ‘strong prima facie case’ and interim relief is refused.
  5. However, given the brevity of the Defendant’s assessment, permission should be considered with the assistance of Summary Grounds of Defence. Therefore, if the Defendant wishes to oppose the claim, it must file them and an Acknowledgement of Service by 21st August 2024, following which permission will be considered on the papers.