Court Documents/Briefs Filed in UK Courts

Last revised January 18, 2024

History

Prior to 1 October 2005, most details of court actions were kept confidential from those not involved in the dispute.  However, non-parties to court proceedings were entitled to see a claim form (and the resulting particulars of claim), accessible without judicial permission.

A change to the court rules in October 2005 produced a ban on access to anything but a simple claim form, with very limited information. It had the unintended effect of removing access to the particulars of claim as a right. Therefore, for court documents filed between 1 October 2005 and 1 October 2006 inclusive, non-parties were entitled to see only claim forms (but not any documents filed with or attached to them) and judgements or orders made in public. Access to other documents required the court’s permission, (Practice Direction 5A, para. 4A.1).

The court rules changed again in 2006, restoring access to the particulars of claim and allowing access to a whole range of other documents never before allowed. Now, for court documents filed on or after 2 October 2006, non-parties have access to the Statement of Case. 

The general rule is that the “Statement of Case” will be available for each case (CPR Rule 5.4C (1)). This includes (not exhaustive):

• Claim Form
• Particulars of Claim 
• Defence
• Reply
• Orders
• Amendments of the above mentioned documents

However, the “Complaint” or the “Claim Form” does not become public immediately.  The Civil Procedure Rules require that the defendants file a document known as the “Acknowledgement of Service”, before the case becomes available to non-parties (CPR Rule 5.4C (3)(a)+(b),(i)+(ii)).

The documents will only become available  once all defendants have filed either an acknowledgement of service or a defence, where the claim has been listed for hearing or where judgement has been entered  (CPR Rule 5.4C (3)(c)+(d)).

The new right of access does not extend to documents filed with or attached to a statement of case, nor does it extend to documents intended to be served with the statement of case.  Specific documents that fall outside of the defined “Statement of Case” include Schedules and witness statements, etc.

For such documents, the court’s permission is still required. If the court gives permission, however, non-parties can obtain copies of any other document filed by a party, or any communication between the court and a party or another person.

In certain cases, the Court, may on the application of a party or of any person identified in a statement of case, restrict access to the court documents for non-parties (CPR Rule 5.4C (4)).

If a party still wished to obtain a copy of the Statement of Case, there would be an additional charge, and an application would be made on notice to the parties involved in the case, and access would be at the discretion of the associate judge/judge for that case (CPR Rule 5.4C (6)). 

Access

Non-parties, subject to the above, need only make a written request to the court and pay a prescribed fee to obtain the required copies (CPR Rule 5.4(2)). 

Registers of claims which have been issued are available for inspection at the following offices of the High Court at the Royal Courts of Justice:

1. the Central Office of the Queen’s Bench Division;
2. Chancery Chambers;
3. the Admiralty and Commercial Court Registry. (Practice Direction 5A, para. 4.1, 4.2)

Apply in person at the Royal Courts of Justice for papers relating to High Court and Court of Appeal cases. The Court of Appeal charges a £200 application fee for access to court documents. 

Apply in person at the Supreme Court for papers relating to final court of appeal cases. The court charges a £350 fee for access to court documents. 

Non-parties will also be given electronic access to court documents that they are entitled to view through a public kiosk facility. (Practice Direction 51C, para. 16.1)

Statements of Case are also available through Bloomberg Law online service, a legal, regulatory, and compliance research platform offering a suite of news, data and analytics to the legal and compliance community.  It is the only commercial provider of court documents (called Dockets) for the UK and the Isle of Jersey.  Bloomberg Law offers the ability to search and view all dockets at no additional charge to their monthly subscription fee.