As a result of lobbying by journalists in the last six months, anyone can now obtain copies of court documents unless one of the parties has successfully applied for them to be kept confidential.
Previously, one could only obtain the initial claim form, some orders and any judgments. Otherwise, an application had to be made to the court for access to other documents, and in practice this was rarely granted.
The new rule means that since 2 October 2006, pleadings have been available to anyone paying the copying charges. Access to witness statements, expert reports, documents attached to statements of case, and documents in divorce/family cases will still be limited.
The new rule was to be retrospective but the Law Society challenged this. Interested parties have now agreed a compromise that the rule will only apply to documents filed after 2 October 2006.
The media’s interest in court documents will be a concern for litigants with sensitive issues. In such circumstances the confidentiality of arbitration would clearly be preferable to High Court litigation.
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 29/11/2006.
