High Court Considers Whether Third Party's Documents Are In Party's Practical Control For Disclosure Purposes

The High Court has held that a foreign government body did not have control, for the purposes of its disclosure obligations, of documents held by various other government bodies and professional services providers, as the documents of those third parties were not within its practical control: The Public Institution for Social Security v Al-Wazzan [2024] EWHC 480 (Comm).

It is now well established by first instance authorities that a party will have control over a third party's documents, for disclosure purposes, not only where there is a legally enforceable right of access, but also where there is a standing arrangement or understanding which means the documents are within the party's practical control. The present decision is of interest in exploring the boundaries of that concept.