YB -v- London Borough of Bromley (anonymity order)

Administrative CourtHigh CourtKing's Bench DivisionAnonymity Order

Claim number: CO/1697/2023

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

14 June 2023

Before:

The Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE

Between:

The King on the application of
YB

-v-

London Borough of Bromley

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 Acknowledgment of service filed by the Defendant;
Order by the Honourable Mrs Justice Lang DBE

  1. The application for permission to apply for judicial review is granted.
  2. The Defendant must provide suitable interim accommodation for the Claimant and her child (which is not shared with her child’s father), pursuant to section 17 of the Children Act 1989, until the final determination of the claim for judicial review, or further order.
  3. The claim is deemed fit for expedition.
  4. The hearing is to be listed for 1 day; the parties to provide a written time estimate within 7 days of service of this order if they disagree with this direction.
  5. The Claimant is granted permission to rely upon her Reply.
  6. 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 “YB”.
  7. Within 14 days of the date 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, in accordance with paragraph 6 above.
  8. 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, in accordance with paragraph 6 above.
  9. Venue: London.
  10. Costs in the case.

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 21 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.
  2. The Claimant may file and serve any Reply and any further evidence within 7 days of the date of service of the Detailed Grounds and/or evidence.
  3. The Claimant must file and serve an agreed hearing bundle, not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing. The electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared and lodged by the Claimant in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The Claimant must also lodge two hard-copy versions of the hearing bundle at the Administrative Court Office, not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing.
  4. The Claimant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 14 days before the date of the hearing.
  5. The Defendant must file and serve a Skeleton Argument not less than 7 days before the date of the hearing.
  6. The Claimant must file and serve an agreed authorities bundle, not less than 5 days before the date of the hearing. The electronic version of the bundle shall be prepared by the Claimant in accordance with the Guidance on the Administrative Court website. The Claimant must also lodge a hard-copy version of the authorities bundle at the Administrative Court Office, not less than 5 days before the date of the hearing.

Observations

In my view, the Claimant has identified arguable grounds which merit consideration at a full hearing.

The balance of convenience clearly lies in favour of the Defendant continuing to provide accommodation for the Claimant and her child, who is aged 1. If the Defendant does not provide accommodation, she and the child will be
street homeless unless they move back in with the child’s father. The key issue in the claim – whether the Claimant and her child can be expected to share accommodation with the child’s father when the adult relationship has broken down – should not be pre-judged at this stage. The Claimant’s stated position is that she cannot live with her child’s father any longer, and so she will be separated from her child if he goes to live with his father.

I have ordered that the claim be expedited because it is in the interests of everyone involved, in particular the child, for this difficult situation to be resolved as soon as possible.

I have granted an anonymity order to the Claimant because she is an asylum seeker who claims to be at risk. In the circumstances, a departure from the general principle of open justice is justified.