The UK Supreme Court has ruled that orders for the anonymity of terror suspects subject to asset-freezing be recalled in one of the first cases to be heard at the newly instituted court in which the media were represented by Geoffrey Robertson QC and Anthony Hudson.

Delivering the judgement, Lord Rodger commented: "If newspapers can identify the people concerned, they may be able to give a more vivid and compelling account which will stimulate discussion of the impact of freezing orders and their impact upon the communities in which people live. Concealing their identities simply casts a shadow over entire communities."

Index on Censorship was party to a challenge to the anonymity orders in the case of A, K, M and HAY v HM Treasury. Jo Glanville, editor of Index on Censorship, commented: "This is an important decision. For one of the very first cases heard by the Supreme Court to be held under conditions of anonymity would have been a blow to the concepts of a free press and open justice, which should be at the core of the court's operations."

The Supreme Court replaced the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords as the highest court in the United Kingdom in October 2009.

Read the Supreme Court judgment here

Media reports

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