YBS -v- Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (anonymity order)
Claim number: 134DC364
In the County Court at Birmingham
2 August 2024
Before:
Her Honour Judge Kelly
Between:
YBS
(Litigation Friend ZBM)
-v-
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Anonymity order
Before Her Honour Judge Kelly sitting at the County Court at Birmingham, Civil Justice Centre, The Priory
Courts, 33 Bull Street, Birmingham, B4 6DS on 2 August 2024
UPON HEARING reading the Claimant’s application, dated 10 April 2024
AND of the court’s own initiative pursuant to rules 3.3(4) and (5)
AND UPON:
(1) Consideration of the Article 8 rights of the Claimant 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 is necessary to secure the proper administration of justice and in order to protect the interests of the Claimant band that there is no sufficient countervailing public interest in disclosure.
AND PURSUANT to section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and CPR 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:
- The identity of the Claimant as a party to these proceedings is confidential and shall not be published.
- 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 Claimant, the Claimant’s Litigation Friend 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. The Claimant and the Litigation Friend shall be referred to as set out at paragraph 3 of this Order.
- In any judgment or report of these proceedings, or other publication (by whatever medium) in relation thereto:
(i) The Claimant shall be referred to as “YBS”.
(ii) The Litigation Friend shall be referred to as “ZBM”.
(iii) 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 or their addresses) shall be redacted before publication. - Pursuant to CPR Rules 5.4C and 5.4D:
(i) 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 subparagraphs 3(i) to (iii) 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. - 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 21 days from the date this order is drawn, and re-filed in the event that any statement of case is amended, within 21 days of such amendment being approved.
- The Court file shall be clearly marked with the words “An anonymity order was made in this case on 2 August 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
- The costs of obtaining this order be costs in the case.
- The court has disposed of an application without service of the application and without a hearing. Any person not served with a copy of the application notice before the order was made may apply to have the order set aside or varied with any such application to be made within 7 days after the date on which the order was served on the person making the application.
Reasons:
(a) The subject matter of this claim concerns the private life of an child claimant. It cannot be said it is unnecessary to make an anonymity order to protect the claimant. [Applying X v Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust [2015] EWCA Civ 96.] In order to protect the claimant;s anonymity, it is necessary to extend anonymity to the litigation friend to avoid identification by association.
(b) It is appropriate to determine the application on paper in advance of the CCMC to ensure that the claimant’s and litigation friend’s names are not published on the court list. The provision allowing any person not served with the application to apply to have this order set aside ensures that there is no prejudice to anyone wishing to seek discharge or variation of the order.
DATED 2 August 2024