XYZ -v- The Whittington Health NHS Trust (anonymity order)

High CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim Number: KB-2024-000325

In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division

1 March 2024

Before:
Master Armstrong

Between:

Anonymised Party XYZ (A Protected Party By Her Son And Litigation Friend ABC)

-v-

The Whittington Health NHS Trust

Anonymity Order

BEFORE Master Armstrong sitting at High Court of Justice, King’s Bench Division on 1 March 2024.

UPON READING an application notice by the Claimant dated 31 October 2023, sealed on 31 January 2024.

AND UPON
(1) Consideration of the Article 8 rights of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend to respect for private and family life, and the Article 10 right to freedom of expression.
(2) It appearing that non-disclosure of the identity of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend and that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure.
(3) The Defendant indicating its neutrality to the making of the order and there being no representations from the press or any other interested party.

AND PURSUANT to Rule 39.2(4) of the Civil Procedure Rules and Section 11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 and section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and Civil Procedure Rules 5.4C, 5.4D and 39.2(4).

WHEREAS for the purposes of this order:
(1) ‘Publication’ includes any speech, writing, broadcast, or other communication in whatever form (including internet and social media), which is addressed to the public at large or any section of the public.
(2) Publication for the purpose of this Order includes any further publication (as defined in subparagraph (i) above) from the date of this Order, even if such information has derived from a previous stage or stages of these proceedings.

IT IS ORDERED THAT

  1. The identity of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend is confidential and shall not be published and disclosed.
  2. Pursuant to CPR Rule 39.2(4), there shall not be disclosed in any report of the proceedings by the press, judgment, order in the proceedings, statement of case, and other documents of these proceedings, or other publication, the name or address of the Claimant, the Claimant’s Litigation Friend, or any details (including other names, addresses, or a specific combination of facts) that could lead to the identification of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend in these proceedings. The Claimant and the Litigation Friend shall be referred to as set out at paragraph 3 of this Order.
  3. In any judgment, statements of case or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto:
    (i) The Claimant shall be referred to as XYZ (or in any other anonymised form as ordered);
    (ii) The Litigation Friend shall be referred to as ABC (or in any other anonymised form as ordered).
    (iii) Any other details which, on their own or together with other information publicly available, may lead to the identification of the Claimant and the Litigation Friend (including any names of other immediate family members or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication.
  4. The address of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend is stated in all statements of case and other documents to be filed and served in the proceedings as the address of the Claimant’s solicitors.
  5. Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
    (i) A person who is not a party to the proceedings may not inspect or 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 paragraph 2, subparagraphs 3(i) to (iii) and paragraph 4 above.
    (ii) 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, trustee or deputy.
    (iii) The court will effect service and the file is to be retained by the Court and marked ‘anonymised’.
  6. Reporting restrictions apply as to the disclosing of any information that may lead to the subsequent identification of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend. The publication of the name and address of the Claimant and her Litigation Friend or any member of the Claimant’s immediate family is prohibited.
  7. The Claimant’s solicitor shall file with the Court an electronic (PDF) bundle of the statements of case that has been anonymised in accordance with paragraph 3 above by 22 March 2024, and re-filed in the event that any statement of case is amended, within 21 days of such amendment being approved.
  8. The Court file shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 1 March 2024 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 that Order.”
  9. 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, trustee or deputy.
  10. 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.
  11. The costs of obtaining this order be costs in the case.

DATED this 1st day of March 2024

EXPLANATORY NOTE

  1. This Form is designed for use in personal injury and clinical negligence cases in which the claimant is a child or a protected party whose interests are assessed to require their identity to be kept confidential.
  2. The Form assumes that the party to be anonymised is the claimant. Adjustment will be required where that is not the case; for example where the order is to protect dependant children in a claim under the Fatal Accidents Act 1976.
  3. For the HMCTS computer system, the anonymised name of the claimant should be three letters. These should not be the same letter, nor consecutive letters: so avoid, e.g. XXX, WWW, ABC, PQR, etc.].
  4. The heading should be anonymised in the order itself, once made, as the general provision in the Practice Guidance: Publication of Privacy and Anonymity Orders dated 16 April 2019 is for the orders to be published on the website of the Judiciary of England and Wales (as also provided at paragraph 8 of the Form).
  5. The order defines the scope of ‘publication’ and makes clear that it is a communication which is “addressed to the public at large or any section of the public”. Set out below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of communications and records which would not constitute publication within the meaning of this order (providing always that proper steps are taken to protect the confidentiality of information from being made public). In this list references to ‘the anonymised party’ include that party’s appointed representatives and advisers, such as solicitor, Litigation Friend, attorney, trustee and deputy.
    (i) Communications between the Court Funds Office and the anonymised party in relation to the payment of money into the Court Funds Office for the benefit of the anonymised party or the investment or treatment of payment out of such money.
    (ii) Communications between the Court Funds Office, the anonymised party, and any financial institution concerned as to the receipt or investment of such money.
    (iii) Records kept by the Court Funds Office, the anonymised party, and any financial institution concerned as to the receipt or investment of the Claimant’s money.
    (iv) Retention by all parties to the claim, their representatives, and their advisers of their unredacted files for the purposes of their continuing functions and obligations in relation to the proceedings.
    (v) Communications between the Defendant(s), their insurers, or their successors in title and their legal and professional advisers, reinsurers, HM Revenue and Customs (or its successor), the Compensation Recovery Unit or any other person required by law.
    (vi) Communications between the anonymised party’s representatives and advisers in managing that party’s affairs.
    (vii) Communications for the purpose of obtaining medical care, advice or treatment for the anonymised party.
    (viii) Communications by or on behalf of a paying party for the purposes of ascertaining whether the anonymised party is alive, so entitled to continuing periodical payments.