Court Transparency Pilot: Access to Public Domain Documents
Most civil proceedings are held in open public court and copies of judgments are readily available from websites. This is in line with the upholding of open justice.
Court documents are dealt with under the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), part 5.
CPR 5.4B sets out what documents a party to the proceedings can obtain, which include:
- a copy of any document listed in paragraph 4.2A of Practice Direction 5A (covering most of the important documents likely to be held on the court record)
- a copy of any other document filed by a party or a communication between the court and a party or another person
CPR 5.4C sets out what documents a non-party to the proceedings can obtain (since 2 October 2006) which include:
- (a) a statement of case, but not any documents filed with or attached to the statement of case, or intended by the party whose statement it is to be served with it;
- (b) a judgment or order given or made in public (whether made at a hearing or without a hearing)
A ‘statement of case’ would cover the following categories of documents:
- Claim form
- Particulars of claim
- Defence
- Reply
- Reply to defence
- Counterclaim or other additional claim (that is, a Part 20 claim)
- Any further information provided in response to a Part 18 request
Usually if documents formed part of the decision making in a public hearing, then access should be provided to those documents as well as the judgment.
Documents outside the scope of CPR5.4C which require a court’s permission for disclosure would include:
- Documents attached to a statement of case (for example, an extract from a contract)
- Witness statements
- Expert reports
- Skeleton arguments
- Notice to admit and response
- Correspondence between the parties and the court
It should also be noted that CPR5.4C does not apply to all courts. For example, it does not apply to the Employment Tribunal and the Supreme Court
However, from 1 January 2026 until 31 December 2027, a pilot scheme was introduced which sets out the rule on how non parties can access court documents in a case.
It applies to the Commercial Court and London Circuit Commercial Court of the King’s Bench Division, the Financial List (Commercial Court and Chancery Division)
It does not apply to hearings conducted in private.
The rules are contained in Practice Direction 51ZH (Access to Public Domain Documents).
Public Domain Documents are defined as:
- a) skeleton arguments;
- b) written opening submissions;
- c) written closing submissions;
- d) other written submissions provided to a judge and relied upon in the hearing;
- e) witness statements and affidavits –
- (i) including those relied upon as evidence in chief at trial and those relied upon at a public hearing of an application;
- (ii) not including documents appended or annexed to the witness statement or affidavit;
- f) expert reports, including –
- (i) those adduced as evidence in chief at trial and those relied upon at a public hearing of an application;
- (ii) annexes and appendices to expert reports;
- g) any other document or documents critical to the understanding of the hearing ordered by the judge at the hearing to be a Public Domain Document;
- h) any documents agreed by the parties to be Public Domain Documents.
These documents must be (re)filed on CE filing within the relevant Filing Period which then allows any person to obtain copies of the same from the Public Access CE-File portal.
You can apply for an order restricting access to the Public Domain Document known as an FMO (Filing Modification Order).
The new pilot schemes do not affect:
- CPR 5.4C (4) which prevents or restricts access to a statement of case to a non-party. This would normally be used if the document contained confidential or commercially sensitive information.
- Validity of any pre-exiting order (such as a confidentiality order made under CPR rule 39.2)
- CPR 31.22 (2) a court order restricting or prohibiting the use of a disclosed document
Final Words
Parties should be alive to the fact that more documents will readily be available to the public under the new pilot scheme (and perhaps beyond) so should consider whether protective measures should be taken place in advance to protect private, confidential or sensitive information – and ideally if the matter can be settled before issue of proceedings and the need for disclosure of such documentation.
If you require advice on court procedure, disclosure, or access to court documents, our Dispute Resolution team can help. We advise on navigating complex procedural rules, protecting confidential or sensitive information, and managing litigation risks effectively. Contact our solicitors today on 0330 822 3451 or request a callback.