IM -v- West Northamptonshire Council (anonymity order)
Claim number: AC-2025-BHM-000109
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
16 April 2025
Before:
His Honour Judge Rawlings
Between:
The King on the application of
IM
-v-
West Northamptonshire Council
Order
On an application by the Claimant for and anonymity order, permission to proceed without a Litigation Friend and for abridgment of the period of time for the Defendant to file its Acknowledgement of Service
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant
ORDER BY HIS HONOUR JUDGE RAWLINGS
- Anonymity and permission to proceed without a Litigation Friend:
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 IM.
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.
e) The Claimant has permission to proceed without a Litigation Friend
2. Abridgement of time
The Claimant’s application for an abridgment of time for the Defendant to file its Acknowledgment of Service it refused
REASONS
- Anonymity: The Claimant is an asylum seeker who also claims to be a child. Naming the Claimant may mean that the Claimant will increase the risk they would face if returned to their country of origin. In addition if the Claimant is, as he claims, a child, naming him may have a detrimental effect upon his health and welfare. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.
- Abridgement of time
The Claimant seeks an order that the Defendant’s time for filing its Acknowledgment of Service should be abridged from 21 days from the date of service of the Claim upon the Defendant to 14 days. Given that: (i) the challenged decision is dated 24 February 2025 and the Claim was filed on 7 April 2025; and (ii) the Claimant is seeking interim relief, when permission is considered, which the Defendant should be given a reasonable opportunity to respond to, the Claimant has not given sufficient reason to justify the abridgement of time applied for.