MAI -v- The London Borough of Waltham Forest (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2025-LON-000917

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

In the matter of an application for judicial review

13 June 2025

Before:

Andrew Kinnier KC
(Sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)

Between:

The King
on the application of
MAI

-v-

The London Borough of Waltham Forest

Order

Notification of Judge’s Decision (CPR 54.11, 54.12)

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant (including her application of 24 March 2025), the Defendant’s Acknowledgement of Service and Summary Grounds and the Claimant’s Reply

ORDER BY ANDREW KINNIER K.C.
(Sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court)

  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 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 “MAI”.

(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.

  1. Permission to apply for judicial review:

(a) Time for filing the Claim Form is extended to 24 March 2025.

(b) Permission is granted on all grounds.

  1. Case Management Directions:

(a) The Defendant must, within 35 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (i) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds and (ii) any written evidence to be relied on.

(b) The Defendant may comply with sub-paragraph (a)(i) above by filing and serving a document which states that its Summary Grounds are to stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.

(c) Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply must be filed and served, together with a copy of that evidence, within 21 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to (a) above.

(d) The parties must agree the contents of the hearing bundle. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared and lodged, in accordance with the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide Chapter 21 and the Guidance on the Administrative Court website, not less than 28 days before the date of the substantive hearing. The parties must, if requested by the Court, lodge 2 hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle.

(e) The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 21 days before the date of the substantive hearing.

(f) The Defendant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument (maximum 25 pages), complying with CPR 54 PD para. 15 and the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide paras 20.1 to 20.3, not less than 14 days before the date of the substantive hearing.

(g) The parties must agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle must be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties must, if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, must be lodged with the Court not less than 7 days before the date of the substantive hearing.

(h) The time estimate for the substantive hearing is 1 day. If either party considers that this time estimate should be varied, they must inform the court as soon as possible.

OBSERVATIONS AND REASONS

(1) Anonymity: The Claimant is a victim of modern slavery and is vulnerable. There is evidence that naming the Claimant will increase the risk of harassment she would face. There are accordingly compelling reasons for the limited derogations from the principle of open justice in paragraph 1.

(2) Timing: the decision subject to challenge is the one (dated 20 December 2024) to refuse to exercise a discretion to reduce rent by a specified amount and not the decision to reduce the rent to nil or a peppercorn: para. 2 of the Reply. The claim was initially issued on 20 March 2025 (and so within time) but rejected by the ACO. It was re-lodged promptly thereafter. On the basis of the materials before the Court, the delay was insignificant and it caused the Defendant no or no substantial prejudice. In the circumstances, time is extended to 24 March 2025

Signed: Andrew Kinnier KC
Date: 13 June 2025