#WhereIsTheInterpreter to return to court as Cabinet Office contests compensation claims

276 claims for compensation over the UK Government’s failure to provide a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter for several coronavirus briefings are to be contested by the Cabinet Office in March.

The private case is separate to that of the public case won in July last year, which saw a judge rule the UK Government had breached the Equality Act in relation to two coronavirus data briefings which came without BSL interpretation.

In a blog post published on Wednesday, solicitor Chris Fry – who is bringing forward the claims – wrote that the hearing “is an attempt by Government to argue that the 276 claims should be struck out for ‘abuse of process’”.

Under civil procedure rules, once a claim has been presented or ‘issued’ to court, the claimant has four months to then ‘serve’ the case to defendant.

A statement from Mr Fry provided to the Central London County Court, seen by The Limping Chicken, reads: “It seemed sensible to me that we should not serve the claims in the current case until we had judgment in Rowley [the case heard in July 2021].

“Whilst the judgment in Rowley would not have been determinative of the claims, we may have needed to abandon these cases, or alternatively there may have been an opportunity to negotiate a compromise.”

Mr Fry’s decision not to serve the claims until the judge ruled on the judicial review involving Deaf actress Kate Rowley was challenged by the Cabinet Office, who suggested they would make a court application to compel the lawyer to serve or discontinue the claims.

This was refused by Mr Fry, and the application was not filed.

“In my opinion, the defendant’s request that we accelerate service of the claim was made simply to disrupt preparation for the judicial review in the knowledge that my resources were scarce,” he alleges.

The lawyer goes on to add that the claim was issued on 8 April last year, meaning it had to be served to the Cabinet Office by midnight on 8 August.

It was served three days before the deadline, with an acknowledgement filed on 9 August.

The Cabinet Office’s application to strike out the 276 claims was submitted on 2 September, but no defence against the lawsuit has been filed by the Government, meaning Mr Fry has also asked the court to decide whether the compensation should be awarded.

The Limping Chicken understands that should the judge rule the claims are valid, each claimant would receive compensation between £1,000 and £10,000.

A new date for the latest court hearing is to be confirmed, after it was previously scheduled to take place on 25 January and then 1 March.

Yvette Genn of Cloisters Chambers will represent the Deaf claimants.

Lynn Stewart-Taylor, founder of the Where Is The Interpreter campaign, said: “This is a positive start to 2022 – another judicial review. We’re letting the Government know we’re still here.”

The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.

The Limping Chicken’s Liam O’Dell will be sharing live updates from the proceedings on his Twitter account, @LiamODellUK, with more information about how others can watch the hearing to be announced in due course.

Photo: 10 Downing Street/Flickr.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

---

Update – 19/01/22 – 13:15: The court hearing to discuss the 276 compensation claims by Deaf individuals has been postponed for two months, after the Central London County Court ruled the 25 January time estimate was “inadequate”.

The case will now be heard on 1 March, and this news report has been updated to reflect this change.

---

Update – 25/02/22 – 10:50: The date for the court hearing, previously scheduled for 1 March, has been postponed again, with a new date for the proceedings to be confirmed.