London Borough of Barking and Dagenham & Ors v Persons Unknown & Ors

Final injunctions in civil proceedings bind the parties identified and served when the order is made. They do not bind “newcomers” who later fall within a description of Persons Unknown. The interim Gammell approach does not extend beyond final judgment. Local authorities have no special statutory power to obtain such final orders: Local Government Act 1972 s.222 confers standing, while planning and anti-social behaviour provisions do not authorise the claimed regime. A contra mundum injunction is confined to exceptional cases where it is the only means of protecting an engaged Convention right. Broad Traveller Injunctions, which pre-judge individual Article 8 rights and resemble legislation, do not meet that threshold. Interim relief against Persons Unknown remains available only with strict service, identification, proportionality and case-management safeguards.

The judgment arose from the court’s review of 38 local-authority claims in which Traveller Injunctions had been granted against named defendants and/or Persons Unknown. Interveners representing Gypsies and Travellers, together with the Attorney General’s advocate, participated. The court considered whether it could revisit final injunctions, whether final orders could bind newcomers or be made contra mundum, how parties to existing orders could be identified, and what interim relief remained available. It also examined service, statutory causes of action, powers of arrest and dormant claims.

The court rejected the local authorities’ case that final Traveller Injunctions could bind newcomers or be granted contra mundum.

1. Jurisdiction over final orders. Although finality is fundamental, the court retains jurisdiction under CPR 3.1(7) and CPR 3.3 to vary or discharge an injunction where its terms potentially affect persons who had no opportunity to be heard. That jurisdiction may be exercised on the court’s own initiative. The permission-to-apply provisions in the relevant orders reinforced this conclusion.
2. Final orders and newcomers. A final injunction is a remedy following determination of rights between the claimant and the Trial Defendants. Applying Canada Goose UK Retail Ltd v Persons Unknown [2020] 1 WLR 2802, and the principle in Attorney General v Times Newspapers Ltd (No.3) [1992] 1 AC 191, it can bind only parties to the proceedings when the order is made. The South Cambridgeshire District Council v Gammell [2006] 1 WLR 658 principle operates at the interim stage only. A person may then become a defendant by conduct bringing them within the defined class, but cannot become a party after final judgment.
3. Statutory powers. Local Government Act 1972 s.222 and Highways Act 1980 s.130 confer standing, not substantive causes of action. Section 187B of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990 concerns actual or apprehended breaches of planning control and does not authorise final injunctions binding unidentified newcomers. Part 1 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 is directed to injunctions against identified respondents.
4. Contra mundum relief. The High Court has jurisdiction under s.37 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, but the jurisdiction is exceptional and practically confined to cases where such an order is the only means of protecting an engaged Convention right and refusal would breach s.6 of the Human Rights Act 1998. Traveller Injunctions did not meet that test. Their breadth prevented the required individualised and proportionate assessment of Article 8 rights, and local authorities had other statutory enforcement powers.
5. Interim relief and case management. Interim injunctions against Persons Unknown remain possible where there is a sufficiently real and imminent risk of a tort, effective service is possible, and the terms are clear, proportionate and geographically and temporally limited. Claimants must actively identify defendants, return the matter promptly to court and progress the claim to final determination. Consequential orders included discharge of injunctions against newcomers and further directions for the remaining claims.