MG -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-002248
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
2 July 2024
Before:
The Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE
Between:
The King on the application of
MG
-v-
Secretary of State for the Home Department
(HO Ref: G1246727)
and
Secretary of State for Justice
(His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service)
(Interested party)
Order
On the Claimant’s application for an anonymity order, urgent consideration, interim relief and directions;
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant;
Order by the Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE
1. Pursuant to CPR r.39.2, in any report of these proceedings, there shall be no publication of the name and address of the Claimant, nor any other particulars likely to lead to his identification. In the proceedings, the Claimant shall be anonymised and referred to as “MG”.
2. No later than 14 days from the date of this order, the Claimant’s solicitors must file with the Court copies of case documents which have been anonymised and/or redacted to protect the identity of the Claimant, in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
3. Non-parties may not obtain any documents from the court file which have not been anonymised and/or redacted to protect the identity of the Claimant, in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
4. The Defendant do file and serve an Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Resistance, including a response to the application for interim relief, no later than 10 days after service of the issued claim and supporting documents.
5. The application for interim relief and any other directions is to be considered by a Judge on the papers no later than 10 days after the filing of the Defendant’s Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Resistance.
6. Liberty to apply to vary or discharge this order on 2 days notice to the other party.
7. Costs reserved.
Reasons
1. The Claimant is a Moroccan national and a failed asylum seeker, who suffers from mental illness. He has been assessed as an Adult at Risk Level 3. There are obstacles to his removal from the UK, namely, a pending judicial review of his negative Conclusive Grounds decision and lack of an Emergency Travel Document.
2. The Claimant has a history of offending, and he was discharged from prison into immigration detention on 15 April 2024.
3. In this claim, the Claimant challenges his ongoing immigration detention as he was granted bail on 12 June 2024, conditional upon provision of an address by the Probation Service, which has not yet been provided.
4. I accept that this application should be considered urgently, and therefore I have abridged time for the filing of the Defendant’s Acknowledgment of Service and ordered speedy consideration by a Judge thereafter. However, I consider that the timescales proposed by the Claimant are unrealistic. The Defendant must be given a fair opportunity to respond to the claim, and to liaise with the Interested Party, before the Court makes an order. I have ordered that the application be considered by a Judge on the papers once the Defendant has responded. The application for an oral hearing will be considered at that stage.
5. I have granted an anonymity order. The Claimant is an asylum seeker who claims to be at risk. In the circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.