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

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: AC-2024-LON-000049

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

5 January 2024

Before:

The Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE

Between:

The King on the application of
SU

-v-

Secretary of State for the Home Department
(HO Ref: AIC/7519106)

Order

On the Claimant’s application for urgent consideration and interim relief;
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 “SU” and her daughter shall be anonymised and referred to as “NM”.
  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 and her daughter, 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 and her daughter, in accordance with paragraph 1 above.
  4. The Defendant shall not disperse the Claimant and her daughter from their current accommodation at the Best Western in Wembley HA9 6AA, to accommodation in Greenwich SE18 4NH, pending the determination of the application for permission to apply for judicial review, or further order.
  5. The Defendant shall file and serve his Acknowledgment of Service and Summary Grounds of Resistance, no later than 14 days after service of the claim form and supporting bundle upon him.
  6. The application for permission to apply for judicial review shall be considered by a Judge on the papers, no later than 14 days after the date on which the Defendant files his Acknowledgment of Service, pursuant to paragraph 5 above.
  7. Liberty to apply to vary or discharge this order on 2 days notice to the other party.
  8. Costs reserved.

Reasons

  1. I have granted an anonymity order. The Claimant is an asylum seeker who claims to be at risk. Her daughter is a child. In the circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.
  2. The Claimant challenges the Defendant’s ongoing failure to provide her and her daughter with adequate accommodation, in breach of sections 95 and 96 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
  3. The Defendant accepts that the Claimant should be dispersed from hotel accommodation. However, the Claimant contends that the dispersals orders made have been unsuitable for the family’s needs, particularly in the light of the advice from the Helen Bamber Foundation.
  4. I accept that the dispersal order made to a shared flat in Greenwich ought not to go ahead as it appears to be unsuitable. The Defendant’s pre-action letter dated 4 January 2024 states that “your client’s previous dispersal has been cancelled and a new dispersal has been raised for self-contained accommodation”. But the Claimant’s solicitors have made enquiries of Migrant Help and Clearspring who both state that the dispersal to Greenwich has not been cancelled and is booked for today, 5 January 2024. Therefore the balance of convenience lies
    in favour of a grant of urgent interim relief.
  5. I have made directions for urgent consideration. The permission Judge should decide whether or not expedition should be ordered.