MDH -v- Ministry of Justice (anonymity order)

County CourtAnonymity Order

Claim number: M00CL835

In the County Court at Central London

2 April 2025

Before:

Deputy District Judge Polynor

Between:

MDH

-v-

Ministry of Justice

Order

Before Deputy District Judge Polynor sitting at the County Court at Central London, Thomas More Building, Royal Courts Of Justice, Strand, London, WC2A 2LL.

UPON the Claimant’s application dated 5 March 2025 and the evidence in support namely a witness statement with exhibits

AND UPON the Defendant confirming that they are neutral as to this application

AND UPON the Claimant having issued a claim for against the Defendant arising out of her treatment at Prison A which is run by the Defendant

AND UPON consideration of the Claimant’s Article 3 right to be protected from inhuman and degrading treatment, her Article 8 right to respect for private and family life, and the rights of others pursuant to Article 10 right to freedom of expression

AND UPON it appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant and Prison A is necessary in order to protect the interests of the Claimant which would otherwise be harmed and to secure the proper administration of justice

AND PURSUANT to section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and CPR 5.4C, 5.4D, 39.2(4) and 39.2(5)

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

  1. The Claimant is granted anonymity in these proceedings and her identity shall not be disclosed.
  2. Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of these proceedings or other publication the name or addresses of the Claimant, or other immediate family members, or any details (including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts) that could lead to the identification of the Claimant.
  3. In any judgement or report of these proceedings, or any other publication (by whatever medium and whether
    orally or in writing) in relation thereto:
    a) References to the Claimant’s name shall be replaced with “MDH”.
    b) References to the prison at which the treatment complained of took place shall be replaced with “Prison A”.
  4. The address of the Claimant shall be stated in all statements of case and other documents to be filed or served in the proceedings as the address of the Claimant’s solicitors.
  5. Pursuant to CPR 5.4C and 5.4D:
    a) A person who is not party to the proceedings may not obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgement or order from the Court records unless the statement of case, judgement or order has been anonymised in accordance with this order.
    b) A non-party may not inspect or obtain a copy of any document from the Court file without permission of the Court. Any such application for permission must be made on at least 14 days’ notice to the Claimant and the Court will effect service.
  6. To the extent necessary to protect the Claimant’s identity in the documents on the Court file in the event of an application under paragraph 5b, any references in such documents, whether to persons, places or otherwise, be anonymised appropriately, with permission to the parties to apply in default of agreement as to the manner of such anonymisation.
  7. The Court file shall be clearly marked to indicate that an anonymity order is in place.
  8. This Order shall be reviewed at the pre-trial review so that any further directions for anonymity at trial, including the manner of authorisation, may be considered.
  9. A copy of this order shall be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales. For that purpose, a court officer will send a copy of the order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk.
  10. A non-party affected by this order may apply on at least 7 days’ notice to all the parties to set aside or vary this order.
  11. Costs in the case.