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

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: CO/1311/2022

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

12 April 2023

Before:

The Honourable Mr Justice Eyre

Between:

The King on the application of
KA

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department

and

Secretary of State for Justice
(Interested party)

Order

On an application by the Claimant for anonymisation and for interim relief
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant.
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) There shall be substituted for all purposes of this case, in place of references to the name of the Claimant, reference to “KA”;
    (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 1(b) “publication” means communication to the public or any section of the public. 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) 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.5.4C(6).
  2. The Defendant and the Interested Party shall file and serve such response as they wish to make to the application for interim relief by 4.00pm on 18th April 2023.
  3. The matter shall be referred to a judge or deputy judge of the Administrative Court on 19th April 2023 or as soon as practicable thereafter for consideration of the application for interim relief.
  4. The matter shall be referred to a judge or deputy judge on 19th April 2023 or as soon as practicable thereafter even if no response has been received by then from the Defendant or the Interested Party.
  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. I am satisfied that there are grounds for believing that the Claimant would be at risk of violence if his identity were to be disclosed. Accordingly, I am satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of justice for the claim to be anonymised notwithstanding the substantial public interest in open justice. However, I reach that conclusion with some reservation. The order provides for the anonymisation to last until further order and may well be that on further reflection the judge considering the matter on 19th April 2023 or subsequently will order that the anonymisation cease.
  2. The Claimant’s personal liberty is at issue and, therefore, the matter needs to be addressed expeditiously.
  3. In addition the points made on the Claimant’s behalf appear to have a real degree of force.
  4. However, it is to be noted that the Claimant accepts that he has failed in the past to comply with requirements to notify his address and/or with the conditions of his bail curfew. It is also of note that the Defendant is taking steps to identify release accommodation for the Claimant albeit the Claimant says that there has been unreasonable delay in doing so. In those circumstances it is not appropriate to grant interim relief in the absence of a response from the Defendant and/or the Interested Party or at least without giving those parties a proper opportunity to respond to the application.
  5. The directions I have made seek to strike a balance between ensuring expedition of the matter and giving a proper opportunity for a response to be made.