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England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Decisions >> Hillingdon Borough Council v Persons Unknown & Ors [2020] EWHC 2153 (QB) (13 July 2020) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2020/2153.html Cite as: [2020] PTSR 2179, [2020] EWHC 2153 (QB), [2020] WLR(D) 484 |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Skype on 8 July 2020 c/o Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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HILLINGDON BOROUGH COUNCIL |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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(1) PERSONS UNKNOWN REMAINING OR OCCUPYTNG WTTHOUT CONSENT OF THE CLAIMANT ON THE CLAIMANT'S LAND AT HAREFIELD MOOR AND HILLINGDON OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRE, HAREFIELD IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HILLINGDON SHOWN EDGED IN RED ON THE CONSOLIDATED PLAN ANNEXED TO THE CLAIM FORM |
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(2) PERSONS UNKNOWN ENTERING ONTO THE CLAIMANT'S LAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF TAKING PART IN PROTESTS AGAINST THE HS2 CONSTRUCTION WORKS TAKING PLACE ON LAND ADJOINING THE CLAIMANT'S LAND AT HAREFIELD MOOR AND HILLINGDON OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRE, HAREFIELD IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HILLINGDON SHOWN EDGED IN RED ON THE CONSOLIDATED PLAN ANNEXED TO THE CLAIM FORM (3) MARK KEIR (4) [deleted by consent] (5) [deleted by consent] (6) LARCH MAXEY (7) VAJDA ROBERT MARDECHAJ (8) IAIN OLIVER (9) [deleted by consent] (10) CONNOR NICHOLLS (11) PAUL SANDISON (12) TOM DALTON (13) STEPHANIE ROBINSON (14) ROBLYN MAXEY (15) JESSICA HEATHLAND-SMITH (16) ELLA DORTON (17) VIVIAN HOHMANN (18) CHRISTOPHER COURT-DOBSON (19) KARLE COLLINS (20) SAM GOGGIN (21) FABIO RAPISARDI (22) ALAN LOFTING (23) ALAN EDWARDEFENDANTS |
Defendants |
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The Defendants appeared (remotely) in person
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Crown Copyright ©
MR JUSTICE KERR:
Introduction
"(1) PERSONS UNKNOWN REMAINING ON OR OCCUPYING WITHOUT CLAIMANT CONSENT OF THE REVISED CLAIMANT'S LAND AT HAREFIELD MOOR AND HILLINGDON OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRE, HAREFIELD IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HILLINGDON SHOWN COLOURED IN BLUE AND EDGED IN RED ON THE AMENDED CONSOLIDATED PLAN ANNEXED TO THE AMENDED CLAIM FORM;
(2) PERSONS UNKNOWN ENTERING ONTO THE CLAIMANT'S LAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF TAKING PART IN PROTESTS AGAINST THE HS2 CONSTRUCTION WORKS TAKING PLACE ON LAND ADJOINING THE REVISED CLAIMANT'S LAND AT HAREFIELD MOOR AND HILLINGDON OUTDOOR ACTIVITY CENTRE, HAREFIELD IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF HILLINGDON SHOWN COLOURED IN BLUE AND EDGED IN RED ON THE AMENDED CONSOLIDATED PLAN ANNEXED TO THE AMENDED CLAIM FORM"
The Facts
The Application
"(1) The "persons unknown" defendants in the claim form are, by definition, people who have not been identified at the time of the commencement of the proceedings. If they are known and have been identified, they must be joined as individual defendants to the proceedings. The "persons unknown" defendants must be people who have not been identified but are capable of being identified and served with the proceedings … . In principle, such persons include both anonymous defendants who are identifiable at the time the proceedings commence but whose names are unknown and also Newcomers, that is to say people who in the future will join the protest and fall within the description of the "persons unknown".
(2) The "persons unknown" must be defined in the originating process by reference to their conduct which is alleged to be unlawful.
(3) Interim injunctive relief may only be granted if there is a sufficiently real and imminent risk of a tort being committed to justify quia timet relief.
(4) As in the case of the originating process itself, the defendants subject to the interim injunction must be individually named if known and identified or, if not and described as "persons unknown", must be capable of being identified and served with the order, if necessary by alternative service, the method of which must be set out in the order.
(5) The prohibited acts must correspond to the threatened tort. They may include lawful conduct if, and only to the extent that, there is no other proportionate means of protecting the claimant's rights.
(6) The terms of the injunction must be sufficiently clear and precise as to enable persons potentially affected to know what they must not do. The prohibited acts must not, therefore, be described in terms of a legal cause of action, such as trespass or harassment or nuisance. They may be defined by reference to the defendant's intention if that is strictly necessary to correspond to the threatened tort and done in non-technical language which a defendant is capable of understanding and the intention is capable of proof without undue complexity. It is better practice, however, to formulate the injunction without reference to intention if the prohibited tortious act can be described in ordinary language without doing so.
(7) The interim injunction should have clear geographical and temporal limits. It must be time limited because it is an interim and not a final injunction. …"
12.— Freedom of expression.
(1) This section applies if a court is considering whether to grant any relief which, if granted, might affect the exercise of the Convention right to freedom of expression.
(2) If the person against whom the application for relief is made ("the respondent") is neither present nor represented, no such relief is to be granted unless the court is satisfied—
(a) that the applicant has taken all practicable steps to notify the respondent; or
(b) that there are compelling reasons why the respondent should not be notified.
(3) …
(4) The court must have particular regard to the importance of the Convention right to freedom of expression and, where the proceedings relate to material which the respondent claims, or which appears to the court, to be journalistic, literary or artistic material (or to conduct connected with such material), to—
(a) the extent to which—
(i) the material has, or is about to, become available to the public; or
(ii) it is, or would be, in the public interest for the material to be published; …"
The Order Hillingdon Seeks
"The Claimant's Land is a natural and wild habitat and is available for all persons to use and enjoy, but that use and enjoyment does not include occupation in the form of a protest camp and/ or protesting. There are other locations in the vicinity for the HS2 protesters to exercise their entitlement to protest and the Council's land should not be the subject of encampments nor a location for protesting, when other areas would be more effective and more on the public areas in the vicinity of the HS2 construction works [my italics]."
The Case for the Defence
Reasoning and Conclusions
(1) sleeping overnight on the land without express permission;
(2) attaching persons to other persons or objects so as to create an obstruction;
(3) attaching a person or persons to fences, gates or barriers;
(4) banging objects so as to cause noise; and
(5) standing, sitting or lying down in front of vehicles.
"… carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others … ."
"… are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
Transcribed by Opersons unknowns 2 International Ltd. Official Court Reporters and Audio Transcribers 5 New Street Square, London EC4A 3BF Tel: 020 7831 5627 Fax: 020 7831 7737 civil@opersons unknowns2.digital |