Access To Court Documents – Supreme Court Confirms Principles, Raises Issues

The Supreme Court has confirmed the principles governing whether a non-party can obtain documents from the court file – and to what documents a non-party is entitled.¹

The applicant was a body representing asbestos victims, and sought copies of extensive documents (including trial bundles and trial transcripts) used and disclosed in court proceedings in which Cape (a former asbestos manufacturer) defended itself against negligence claims. The applicant believed these documents "would contain valuable information about such things as the knowledge of the asbestos industry of the dangers of asbestos, the research which the industry and industry-related bodies had carried out, and the influence which they had had on the Factory Inspectorate and the Health and Safety Executive in setting standards." The applicant also considered that "the documents might assist both claimants and defendants and also the court in understanding the issues in asbestos-related disease