O -v- London Borough of Hillingdon (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-002200
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
27 June 2024
Before:
The Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE
Between:
The King on the application of
O
-v-
London Borough of Hillingdon
Order
On the Claimant’s application for an anonymity order, urgent consideration, and disclosure;
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 her identification. In the proceedings, the Claimant shall be anonymised and referred to as “O”.
2. No later than 7 days after service 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 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 its Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Resistance, no later than 10 days after service of the claim form.
5. The Defendant do file and serve all relevant documents relating to the Claimant’s application for housing, no later than 10 days after service of the claim form.
6. The application for permission shall be considered by a Judge on the papers no later than 10 days after the date on which the Defendant files the documents at paragraphs 4 and 5 above (in the event of delay, this application is fit for vacation business).
7. Liberty to apply to vary or discharge this order on 2 days notice to the other party. 8. Costs reserved.
Reasons
1. The Claimant is a victim of human trafficking who has been granted refugee status. She currently lives in a safe house funded by the Home Office but now has to seek accommodation from the Defendant local housing authority.
2. She challenges the Defendant’s failures to comply with its duty under section 189A of the Housing Act 1996 to assess the Claimant’s housing needs and produce a plan to secure suitable accommodation and to secure suitable accommodation, as required by section 188(1) and section 206 of the Housing Act 1996. She also alleges that the Defendant’s housing allocation policy discriminates against her contrary to section 19 Equality Act 2010 and Article 14 ECHR.
3. The Claimant has chronic renal failure and is awaiting a kidney transplant. She undergoes regular dialysis and is immunocompromised so is at risk of infection in shared accommodation. I accept that this matter is urgent.
4. According to the Court records, the claim was filed after hours on 26 June 2024. It was issued and served today, 27 June 2024. I see that the Claimant states the papers were filed and served on 19 June 2024 and I cannot explain this discrepancy. However, time for filing the Acknowledgment of Service only runs from the date of service of the sealed claim form. Therefore I have abridged time for the Defendant’s response to 10 days which I consider is the shortest realistic time period, given that counsel will have to be instructed.
5. I consider that the Court will need up to 10 days to determine the permission application, bearing in mind the volume of urgent cases.
6. The application for disclosure of the housing file is premature, but I have ordered the Defendant to file and serve relevant documents relating to the Claimant’s application.
7. I have granted an anonymity order. The Claimant is a victim of human trafficking and has recently been granted refugee status. In the circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.