RY -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Case number: AC-2024-LON-001956

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

23 July 2024

Before:

Deputy High Court Judge Clare Padley

Between:

The King on the application of
RY

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department

Order

Notification of the Judge’s decision on the application for permission to apply for judicial review (CPR 54.11, 54.12) and on the Defendant’s application dated 21.6.24 for an extension of time for the AOS and the Claimant’s application dated 2.7.24 to rely on a reply and further evidence.

Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Acknowledgement of service (AOS) filed by the Defendant

ORDER by Deputy High Court Judge Clare Padley

  1. The Defendant is granted an extension of time, and the time for filing and serving the AOS and summary grounds is extended retrospectively to 26 June 2024.
  2. The Claimant does not need permission to rely on her reply ( see CPR 54.8A) but is granted permission to rely on her further witness evidence.
  3. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted.
  4. The claim for interim relief is refused.
  5. The hearing of the claim is expedited and shall be listed for hearing in week commencing 26 August 2024, or as soon thereafter as the court can accommodate the hearing, with a time estimate of 1 day (and is suitable for vacation listing). If the parties disagree with this time estimate they shall provide a written time estimate within 7 days of service of this order.

Observations

  1. The Claimant is an Albanian asylum seeker who entered the UK as an illegal entrant in 2022. Her evidence is that she has suffered torture, rape, psychological, physical and sexual violence and has been diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety.
  2. She lives with her partner in the UK and they have two children aged 4 and 1, who both have a rare form of eye cancer. The elder child has a prosthetic eye and the younger child is currently receiving chemotherapy. They are disabled with special needs and immuno-deficiency and receive medical treatment from Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
  3. The current claim alleges ongoing unlawful and unreasonable failures and delays of the Defendant (D) to provide her with suitable dispersal or temporary accommodation under s.95 or s.98 of Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 to-date, failure to make reasonable adjustments pursuant to the Equality Act 2010 and breaches of the public sector equality duty.
  4. Following previous pre-action correspondence in relation to the children’s medical needs, in June 2023 the Claimant and her family were moved by the Defendant from a hotel in Hertfordshire to her current self-contained 2 bedroom property in East London, in line with Home Office medical advice that they needed self-contained accommodation within 1 hour travel time of GOSH.
  5. The current claim alleges ongoing concerns about the suitability of the new accommodation in terms of its safety and hygiene for the children’s special needs due to infestation issues and a lack of laundry and eating facilities. There also appears to have been some confusion arising out of the Defendant’s recent correspondence about whether a need for a further move has been accepted or not.
  6. Given that the serious issue of proximity to the hospital for the children’s treatment has been resolved, although permission is granted on the grounds claimed and I consider it appropriate to expedite the final hearing, I am not satisfied that the balance of convenience necessitates an interim order at this time, taking into account the availability of suitable accommodation and the impact of a further temporary move.

Case Management Directions

  1. The Defendant and any other person served with the Claim Form who wishes to contest the claim or support it on additional grounds shall, within 14 days of the date of service of this Order, file and serve (a) Detailed Grounds for contesting the claim or supporting it on additional grounds, and (b) any written evidence that is to be relied on. For the avoidance of doubt, a party who has filed and served Summary Grounds pursuant to CPR 54.8 may comply with (a) above by filing and serving a document which states that those Summary Grounds shall stand as the Detailed Grounds required by CPR 54.14.
  2. Any application by the Claimant to serve evidence in reply shall be filed and served within 7 days of the date on which the Defendant serves evidence pursuant to 1(b) above.
  3. The parties shall agree the contents of the hearing bundle and must file it with the Court not less than 3 weeks before the date of the hearing of the judicial review. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared and lodged in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties shall, if requested by the Court lodge 2 hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle.
  4. The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 7 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  5. The Defendant and any Interested Party must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 5 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.
  6. The parties shall agree the contents of a bundle containing the authorities to be referred to at the hearing. An electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The parties shall if requested by the Court, prepare a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle. The electronic version of the bundle and if requested, the hard copy version of the bundle, shall be lodged with the Court not less than 3 days before the date of the hearing of the judicial review.