King's / Queen's Bench Division of the High Court

KB-2022-003316 - [2025] EWHC 1716 (KB)

Fecha: 11-Jul-2025

This judgment is divided into the following sections

This judgment is divided into the following sections:

Section		Paragraphs
A.	Litigation history	[4]–[8]
B.	Issues in the litigation	[9]–[26]
(1)	Core allegations made by the Claimants	[10]–[19]
(2)	Associated’s Defence	[20]–[22]
(3)	The Replies	[23]–[25]
(4)	The Rejoinders	[26]
C.	Disclosure	[27]–[30]
D.	Matters to be resolved at the Second CMC	[31]–[34]
E.	Resolution of the Applications	[36]–[271]
(1)	Preliminary matters	[42]–[61]
	(a) Each Claimant’s case: proof of UIG	[42]–[52]
	(b) Civil litigation not a public inquiry	[53]–[57]
	(c) Proper control of the generic case	[58]–[61]
(2)	The Unredaction Application	[62]–[110]
	(a) Summary	[62]–[67]
	(b) Evidence	[68]–[72]
	(c) Legal Principles	[73]–[78]
	(d) Submissions	[79]–[92]
	(e) Further submissions after the hearing	[93]–[98]
	(f) Decision	[99]–[110]
(3)	The Burrows Application	[111]–[114]
(4)	The Phone Data Application	[115]–[129]
	(a) Evidence	[119]–[122]
	(b) Submissions	[123]–[125]
	(c) Decision	[126]–[129]
(5)	The Katie Nicholl/Lee Harpin Application	[130]–[133]
(6)	The C&LS Application	[134]–[137]
(7)	The Disclosure Information Application	[138]–[152]
(8)	The Data Storage Information Application	[153]–[155]
(9)	Further Custodian Search Application	[156]–[160]
(10)	The Train of Inquiry Application	[161]–[164]
(11)	The Third-Party Disclosure Applications	[165]–[173]
	(a) The MPS Application	[167]–[169]
	(b) The ICO Application	[170]–[173]
(12)	Associated’s Specific Disclosure Application	[175]–[251]
	(a) Legal principles	[176]–[179]
	(b) Knowledge Disclosure Application	[180]–[208]
	(i) The Claimants’ alleged Watershed Moments	[181]–[184]
	(ii) Evidence	[185]–[195]
	(iii) Submissions	[196]–[201]
	(iv) Decision	[202]–[208]
	(c) The Research Team Application	[209]–[232]
	(i) Evidence	[210]–[217]
	(ii) Submissions	[218]–[227]
	(iii) Decision	[228]–[232]
	(d) The Third-Party Support Application	[233]–[251]
	(i) Evidence	[234]–[243]
	(ii) Submissions	[244]–[247]
	(iii) Decision	[248]–[251]
	(e) The Mulcaire Notes Application	[252]–[257]
(13)	The Amendment Application	[258]–[262]
(14)	Sir Simon Hughes’ Application	[263]–[271]
F.	Summary and next steps	[272]–[274]
Annex 1	The terms of the specific disclosure order sought by Associated against the Claimants
Annex 2	Unredaction Application Target Schedule

This is the judgment arising from the second substantial case management hearing in the claims for misuse of private information brought by the Claimants against the Defendant.

This judgment necessarily deals with various allegations made by the Claimants against named individuals. The Court is dealing with interim stages of this litigation. As such, I am not resolving whether these allegations are true, and this judgment must be read and understood accordingly.