MTA -v-  Secretary of State for the Home Department and others (anonymity order)

High CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim Number: CO/2359/2023

In The High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division

28 July 2023

Before:
Mrs Justice Lang

Between:
MTA
-v-
Secretary of State for the Home Department
(2) Secretary of State for Defence
(3) Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs

Anonymity Order

Order by the Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE

  1. The claim is to be expedited and it is fit for vacation business.
  2. The application for permission and for interim relief is to be listed for hearing as soon as reasonably possible from 14 August 2023 onwards, having regard to the availability of counsel. Time estimate: 3 hours.
  3. No later than 14 days from the date of this order, the Claimant shall file and serve an agreed bundle of relevant policy statements by the Defendant, together with any other relevant case law concerning applications for entry to the UK which may assist the Court (in addition to those already supplied in the claim bundle). The bundle must comply with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website.
  4. 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 “MTA”.
  5. No later than 14 days from the date of this order, the Claimant’s solicitors shall 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 4 above.
    Form JR-MPA. Judicial Review. Miscellaneous Paper Application. Version September 2020
  6. 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 4 above.
  7. Costs reserved.

    Reasons
  8. I have granted an anonymity order. The Claimant and his family are in hiding in Afghanistan, at risk of harm from the Taliban, because of the Claimant’s association with the previous regime. In the circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.
  9. The claim is urgent because of the current risk to the Claimant and his family. Therefore I have ordered expedition.
  10. I consider that an oral hearing is required. The claim is urgent, there is an application for interim relief, and permission is contested. I note the Defendant’s submission that the effect of the judgment in R (GA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 871 (Admin) means that this claim cannot succeed. However, that case is not a binding authority of general application. High Court Judges can differ from each other, though naturally they will be slow to do so. The Claimant is entitled to seek to persuade the Court that this claim is arguable, despite GA.