SR -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-002211
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
23 October 2024
Before:
Timothy Corner KC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
Between:
The King on the application of
SR
-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)
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the claimant and the Acknowledgement of service filed by the defendant
ORDER by Timothy Corner KC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
Anonymity
1. The claimant’s name shall be anonymised as SR for the purpose of these proceedings and is confidential and shall not be published.
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 address of the clamant 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 in these proceedings.
3. The claimant shall be referred as set out at para 1 of this order.
4. In any judgment or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto, the claimant shall be referred to as “SR.”
5. Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the claimant (including any names of other immediate family members) shall be redacted before publication.
6. Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
a. A person who is not a party to the proceedings may not obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgment or order from the Court records unless the statement of case, judgment or order has been anonymised in accordance with paras 1-5 above.
b. If a person who is not a party to the proceedings applies (pursuant to CPR r. 5.4C(1B) or (2)) for permission to inspect or obtain a copy of any other document or communication, such application shall be on at least 7 days’ notice to the claimant’s solicitor.
c. The Court file shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order has been made in this case and any application by a non-party to inspect or obtain a copy document from this file must be dealt with in accordance with the terms of this order.”
d. Any interested party, whether or not a party to the proceedings, may apply to the Court to vary or discharge this order, provided that any such application is made on 7 days’ notice to the claimant’s solicitor.
e. Pursuant to the “Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders” issued by the Master of the Rolls dated 16 April 2019 a copy of this order shall be published on the Judicial Website of the High Court of Justice (www.judiciary.uk). For that purpose, a court officer will send a copy of the order by email to the Judicial Office at judicialwebupdates@judiciary.uk
Permission
7. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted.
8. The application is to be listed for 4 hours; the parties to provide a written time estimate within 7 days of service of this order if they disagree with this direction.
Observations
1. For the reasons set out in the Statement of Facts and Grounds, it is arguable that the defendant unlawfully failed to refer the claimant to the National Referral Mechanism and also that the certification of the claimant’s claims under section 94 NIAA was unlawful.
2. In particular, it appears that the defendant may have ignored the fact that her own guidance states that exploitation need not actually have occurred for there to be modern slavery/human trafficking, when considering whether the claimant had been a victim of slavery or trafficking. It is arguable that this infected both the decision not to refer the claimant to the NRM and the decision to certify the claimant’s claims.
3. The defendant submits that in the absence of any explanation from the claimant, the application is time-barred. However, having regard to the importance of the issues in the case, I do not think it right to refuse permission on the ground that the application was not filed until 3 months after the asylum decision.
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 35 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 21 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 [4] 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 [21] 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 [14] 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.