Anonymity Orders for Clinical Negligence & PI Lawyers - A Developing Area

Introduction

This webinar will consider what has and has not changed in relation to the Court’s approach to anonymity orders. It will briefly refresh you on the origins of the basic principle of open justice and where and when there has been derogation from this in order to understand why these orders are not.

It will consider what parts of the guidance given by Moore-Bick, LJ in JX MX -v- Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust, survives following the decision of the Court of Appeal in Re (PMC) v A Local Health Board [2025]. It will also consider Abbasi and another (Respondents) v Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

This webinar will enable you to understand why, despite the recent case law, applications for anonymity orders should be made as early as reasonably possible in litigation. There will be practical guidance regarding who needs to be served with notice of these applications and how and when they should be given such notice.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Statutory basis for Orders
• Common law foundations
• Landmark case law
• Balancing transparency and privacy
• Differences between Withholding orders, Reporting Restriction Orders and Anonymity Order
• When should applications for anonymity Orders be made
• Who should be given notice of the application
• Is it necessary to always give notice to outside parties who may have an interest in the case?
• Can such orders be retrospective as well as prospective

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Tuesday 14th April 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,100+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.