FKC -v- Cardiff Council (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-CDF-0000032
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
28 February 2024
Before:
The Honourable Mr Justice Eyre
Between:
The King on the application of
FKC
-v-
Cardiff Council
Order
On an application by the Claimant for anonymisation and interim relief
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant
AND UPON it appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant is necessary in order to secure the proper administration of justice and to protect the interests of the Claimant pursuant to rule 39.2(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules and section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and rules 5.4C of the Civil Procedure Rules
ORDER by the Honourable Mr Justice Eyre
1. The Claimant’s application for anonymity is granted, and pursuant to CPR Rule 5.4A-5.4D and Rule 39.2, with effect from the date of this order and until further order:
a. The Claimant shall hereinafter be referred to in these proceedings as “FKC” and there shall be substituted for all purposes of this case, in place of references to the name of the Claimant, reference to “FKC”;
b. There shall be no publication of any name, address, picture or other information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant as being the Claimant in these proceedings;
c. In paragraph (b) “publication” means communication to the public or any section of the public whether by way of report of the proceedings or otherwise. It includes publication in a newspaper or broadcast, or on the internet, by any person;
d. The Defendant, and any party served with or given notice of the anonymity order, has permission to apply to discharge or vary that order. Any application for that purpose must be made in writing, on notice to all parties;
e. Pursuant to CPR rule 5.4C a person who is not a party to the proceedings may obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgment or order from the court records only if the statement of case, judgment or order has been anonymised such that: (i) the Claimant is referred to in those documents only as “FKC”; and (ii) any reference to the names of the Claimant be deleted from those documents
f. Any application for permission to inspect or obtain a non-anonymised version of a document must be made on notice to the Claimant and in accordance with CPR r.5
2. The Defendant shall file and served any response to the application for interim relief by 4.00pm on 5th March 2024.
3. The application for interim relief shall be referred to a judge or deputy judge of the Administrative Court for further consideration on 6th March 2024 or as soon as practicable thereafter.
4. Such reference shall be made even if no response has been received from the Defendant at the time of the application.
5. Costs reserved.
This order has been made without a hearing. Any party affected by this order may apply within 7 days of the service of this order on that party to have it set aside, varied, or stayed.
Reasons
1. The Claimant has made out a sufficient case as to anonymisation to establish at this stage that anonymisation is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice. It will be open to the court to revisit that position in the course of the proceedings.
2. The personal circumstances of the Claimant are such that expeditious determination of the application for interim relief is desirable.
3. However, in light of the terms of the Defendant’s pre-action protocol response it is apparent that the Defendant has taken a reasoned and considered stance in response to the Claimant’s asserted needs. An assessment will need to be made of the merits of that stance but in light of that stance it is not appropriate to address the interim relief application without giving the Defendant an adequate opportunity to provide a reasoned response to that application.
4. In that regard it is noted that the Claimant has thus far been able to receive support from others.
5. In those circumstances the timetable I have directed strikes an appropriate balance between the need for expeditious consideration and the need to give the Defendant an adequate opportunity to respond.