MA -v- Kent County Council (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2024-LON-003610

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

6 February 2025

Before:

The Honourable Mr Justice MacDonald

Between:

The King on the application of
MA (A Child by his Litigation Friend LA) (ANONYMITY GRANTED)

-v-

Kent County Council

Order

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the consent order agreed and signed by the parties on 28 November 2024 and upon the court approving the settlement of the claim embodied in the consent order in accordance with CPR r.21.10.

ORDER by the Honourable Mr Justice MacDonald

  1. Pursuant to Rule 39.2(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules, the identities of the Claimant and the Litigation Friend shall not be disclosed to any person who is not a party to these proceedings without permission of the Court. The Claimant shall be referred to as LA in these proceedings. Nothing shall be published which may reveal the name or address of the Claimant and Litigation Friend, or any other details liable to lead to their identification.
  2. Pursuant to Rule 5.4C of the Civil Procedure Rules, 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 completely anonymised and all references which are capable of leading to the identification of the Claimant and Litigation Friend have been deleted or otherwise redacted from those documents.

Reasons

  1. An order for anonymity is a derogation from the principle of open justice. Any such derogation will be exceptional and based on necessity. In this case, an anonymity order is strictly necessary. The Claimant is a protected party for the purposes of CPR 21.1(2)(d). The Claimant is further particularly vulnerable by reason of his multiple and complex developmental difficulties. The claim concerns the arrangements for meeting the Claimant’s special educational needs in breach of s.42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 in the context of a particularly sensitive family situation.
  2. In the circumstances privacy is necessary to protect the interests of a protected party and, having regard to the particular importance of the principle of open justice and the Art 8 and Art 10 rights engaged, the anonymity order granted is the minimum necessary derogation from the principle of open justice to achieve this. In circumstances where the Litigation Friend for the Claimant is his mother, permitting the disclosure of the identity of the Litigation Friend would inevitably lead to the disclosure of the identity of the Claimant, defeating the purposes of the anonymity order in respect of the Claimant.