As stated above, a Court would be most unlikely to be prepared to sit in private in an HIV-related case. There is a power for a court to order that a name or other information be withheld from publicity where a case is heard in public (section 11 Contempt of Court Act 1981). This power was considered in the case of R v Westminster City Council ex parte Castelli and Tristran–Garcia  (1995) 7 Admin LR 840). The applicants were two men diagnosed with HIV who had earlier commenced judicial review proceedings against the Council for failure to house them and as a result of the publicity their case generated they sought to prohibit any further publication of their names, addresses or other means of identifying them.

The judge stated that the test to be satisfied before an order under s.11 would be granted was whether the applicant would reasonably be deterred from seeking justice at the hands of the court if not protected by a s.11 order. In the event the judge held that there was not sufficient material before him to establish the need for anonymity, especially since the proceedings raised questions of public interest, i.e. entitlement of EU nationals to public housing. However he also laid great emphasis on the fact that a further and insurmountable problem was that substantial publicity had already occurred as a result of one of the applicant's leave application. As he was unable to make a retrospective order, any order that was made at this stage in the hearing would be ineffectual. The applicants names were already in the public domain and they had therefore lost their anonymity.

The judgment does however give helpful guidance on making applications for anonymity. It is stated that in cases where the applicant's name alone will not provoke publicity, then at the leave stage an application for anonymity and for a s.11 order can be made. This application would be dealt with ex parte and if necessary, in camera. If the court decides in favour of making the order, it will be granted for a short time to enable notice to be given to the press and the Attorney–General and there can then be a full hearing.

In cases where listing the matter by name will of itself give rise to publicity, the application for anonymity will have to be made as soon as the papers are lodged. The papers should not be lodged until the Crown Office has confirmed that the application for anonymity can be heard by a judge immediately.