The United Kingdom Public Documents Pilot Scheme (the “Pilot”) will come into force on January 1, 2026 and will be introduced under the new Practice Direction 51ZH “Access to Public Domain Documents” (“PD 51ZH”). The Pilot will significantly expand and facilitate public access to court documents and follows the U.K. Supreme Court judgment of Cape v Dring [2019] UKSC 38 (see also our earlier blog post on this: Can Open Justice Be Too Open? A Review of Proposals to Provide Non-Parties Greater Access to Court Documents in England & Wales | Minding Your Business). A Guidance Note on PD 51ZH has also been published by the Judiciary.
Civil Procedure Rule Committee
Can Open Justice Be Too Open? A Review of Proposals to Provide Non-Parties Greater Access to Court Documents in England & Wales
By Charles Bishop & Dorothy Murray on
In July 2019, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) handed down a judgment in a case that concerned the extent and operation of the principle of open justice (Cape v Dring). The question before the UKSC was how much of the written material placed before the court in a civil action should be accessible to those who are not parties to the proceedings and how it should be made accessible to them.