In Bermuda Press (Holdings) v Registrar of the Supreme
Court1, then Chief Justice Ian Kawaley considered
the public's right of access to court documents in a matter
deemed to be in the public interest. The Court subsequently issued
Practice Direction (PD) No. 23 of 2015. This was followed by
Amended PD No. 23 of 2015, which provides guidance for those
seeking access to court documents. The Practice Direction
distinguishes between cases that are pending and those that are
not, and between automatic access to certain narrowly confined
documents and discretionary access to a potentially broader range
of documents.
A case is pending as soon as it is commenced and remains pending
until it is concluded. Automatic access to documents in pending
cases is only available in relation to cases filed on or after 1
December 2015. Non-party access to documents on the court file is
significantly reduced during the pendency of the case.
