Proposed New Rule Would Radically Expand Public Access To Court Documents

The Civil Procedure Rule Committee is consulting on a revised rule 5.4C which, as currently drafted, would lead to parties' witness statements, expert reports and skeleton arguments becoming public at a much earlier stage of proceedings than is currently the case. While it is clearly important that the press and the public should have appropriate access to court documents, in accordance with the principle of open justice, it is not clear that the current proposals strike the right balance.

Responses to the consultation are due on 8 April and Herbert Smith Freehills will be submitting a response. If any clients would like to discuss the proposals, please do get in touch.

The current position