Current rules provide for members of the public to have access to certain documents on the court file, namely statements of case and judgments and orders made in public, on payment of a small fee. Other court documents can be obtained, particularly where they have been used or referred to at a public hearing, but only with the court's permission.
That will change for the Commercial Court and Financial List from 1 January, when many more categories of documents will become available by default under a new pilot scheme governed by Practice Direction 51ZH (as outlined in our previous blog post here).
Chris Bushell and Maura McIntosh have now published an article in PLC Magazine which considers the impact of the pilot and the practical steps parties should consider to prepare for the new regime.
This article first appeared in the December 2025 issue of PLC Magazine: http://uk.practicallaw.com/resources/uk-publications/plc-magazine.
Disclaimer
The articles published on this website, current at the dates of publication set out above, are for reference purposes only. They do not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Specific legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be sought separately before taking any action.