VRP -v- Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (anonymity order)
Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order
Claim number: AC-2024-LON-001467
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
17 May 2024
Before:
The Honourable Mr Justice MacDonald
Between:
The King on the application of
VRP (by her Litigation Friend, SR)
-v-
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Order
On an application by the Claimant for an order appointing a litigation friend and for an anonymity order
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant and the Defendant.
ORDER by the Honourable Mr Justice MacDonald
1. SR is appointed as Litigation Friend for the Claimant.
2. Pursuant to Rule 39.2(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules, the identities of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend shall not be disclosed to any person who is not a party to these proceedings without permission of the Court. The Claimant shall be referred to as VRP in these proceedings. The Litigation Friend shall be referred to as SR.
3. Pursuant to Rule 5.4C of the Civil Procedure Rules, a person who is not a party to the proceedings may obtain a copy of a statement of case, judgment or order from the court records only if the statement of case, judgment or order has been completely anonymised and all references which are capable of leading to the identification of the
Claimant and Witness have been deleted or otherwise redacted from those documents.
4. Pursuant to s.11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, there must be no publication of the identity of the Claimant or her Litigation Friend or of any matter likely to lead to the identification of the Claimant or her Litigation Friend in any report of, or otherwise in connection with, these proceedings.
5. Any person wishing to apply to vary or discharge this order must make an application to the court, served on each party.
Reasons
1. The Claimant is a protected party for the purposes of CPR 21.1(2)(d). Pursuant to CPR 21.2(1) a protected party must have a litigation friend to conduct proceedings on their behalf. SR consents to act as Litigation Friend to VRP and has completed and signed a Certificate of Suitability.
2. An order for anonymity is a derogation from the principle of open justice. Any such derogation will be exceptional and based on necessity. In this case, an anonymity order is strictly necessary. The Claimant is a protected party for the purposes of CPR 21.1(2)(d). The claim concerns the arrangements for meeting the Claimant’s intimate care needs. In the circumstances privacy is necessary to protect the interests of a protected party and, having regard to the particular importance of the principle of open justice and the Art 8 and Art 10 rights engaged, the anonymity order granted is the minimum necessary derogation from the principle of open justice to achieve this. In circumstances where the Litigation Friend for the Claimant is her mother, permitting the disclosure of the identity of the Litigation Friend would inevitably lead to the disclosure of the identity of the Claimant, defeating the purposes of the anonymity order in respect of the Claimant.