MC -v- Gloucestershire County Council (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2026-CDF-000166

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

In the Matter of an Application for Judicial Review

11 August 2026

Before:

His Honour Judge Keyser KC
sitting as a Judge of the High Court

Between:

The King
on the application of MD
(by his litigation friend, YD)
(Claimant)

-v-

Gloucestershire County Council
(Defendant)

Order

UPON the claim form and application for anonymity, interim relief and expedition

AND UPON considering the documents filed by the Claimant

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

Anonymity

  1. 1.1 Pursuant to CPR r. 39.2(4) and/or the Court’s inherent jurisdiction and/or section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998:
    (a) the Claimant’s name and the litigation friend’s name are to be withheld from the public and must not be disclosed in any proceedings in public; and
    (b) the Claimant is to be referred to orally and in writing as MD and the litigation friend as YD.

    1.2 Pursuant to section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or the litigation friend or 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.

    1.3 Pursuant to CPR r. 5.4C(4):
    (a) 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 or the litigation friend;
    (b) if any statement of case subsequently filed includes information likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or the litigation friend, a redacted copy omitting that information must be filed at the same time;
    (c) unless the Court grants permission under CPR r. 5.4C(6), no non-party many obtain a copy of any unredacted statement of case.

    Expedition and Interim Relief
  2. The time for filing the acknowledgment of service is abridged to 14 days.
  3. The application for permission and the application for interim relief shall be referred for consideration by a judge on the papers as soon as practicable after the acknowledgment of service is filed or the time for filing it expires.

    Liberty to apply
  4. Any person wishing to vary or discharge this Order must make an application on notice to each party.

Reasons

(1) The claimant is a disabled child with significant needs, and the claim relies on personal 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) I do not consider it right to contemplate an order for interim relief without giving the defendant a reasonable opportunity to respond fully, particularly in view of (a) the chronology indicated in the Statement of Facts and Grounds and (b) the fact that this application is made in August. However, the circumstances do justify some abridgment of the time for acknowledging service. The defendant will have to respond to the application for interim relief at the same time.

Date: 11 August 2026