HSB -v- West Northamptonshire Council and another (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2026-BHM-000109

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

19 March 2026

Before:

HER HONOUR JUDGE EMMA KELLY

Between:

THE KING on the application of
HSB (a child by his mother and litigation friend, HML)

-v-

West Northamptonshire Council

Northamptonshire Children’s Trust

Order

On an application by the Claimant, dated 5 March 2026 (filed on 13 March 2026) seeking urgent interim relief (“the Interim Relief Application”) in the form of directions for expediated consideration of the judicial review claim

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant

ORDER BY HER HONOUR JUDGE EMMA KELLY

  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 and Claimant’s Litigation Friend’s names are to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public;
    ii) the Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as HSB;
    iii) the Claimant’s Litigation Friend is to be referred to orally and in writing as HML.
    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 and/or Litigation Friend;
    ii) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant and/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.

The Interim Relief Application

2. The Interim Relief Application is granted to the extent that the following directions are made for expedition:
a) The Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service (CPR 54.8) must be filed and served by 4pm on Friday 27 March 2026.
b) Any Reply from the Claimant (CPR 54.8A) must be filed and served by 4pm on 31 March 2026.
c) The papers are to be referred to a judge or deputy judge within 7 days thereafter.

3. The Court has disposed of the Interim Relief Application without a hearing. Any party affected by paragraph 2 of this Order may apply to have the said paragraph set aside or varied, with any such application to be made within 7 days of service of this Order on the party making the application.

REASONS

  1. Anonymity: The Claimant is a child. The claim relies on personal educational information 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 in paragraph 1.
  2. The Interim Relief Application: The subject matter of the claim is urgent insofar as the Claimant is due to sit GCSE examinations in June 2026 but is said not to be currently registered to sit the examinations, has no confirmed examination centre nor access arrangements. The Claimant however fails to provide details as to the last date for registration so it is unclear just how urgent this is. However, on any view the proposed examinations are imminent and there is merit in expediting the claim as the outcome of the claim may affect the Claimant’s ability to sit the examinations this year.