From February to April 2024, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (‘Committee’) held a consultation on a proposed draft amendment to the Civil Procedure Rules (‘CPR’) rule 5.4C (supply of documents to a non-party from court records). Details of the consultation are available on the Committee website at: About us - Civil Procedure Rule Committee - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
The proposed amendment would permit a non-party to obtain specified documents in relation to the proceedings, including expert reports (except for medical reports or where a rule or practice direction provides otherwise), without the permission of the court. A non-party will be able to obtain these documents (subject to certain restrictions) where the defendant has filed an acknowledgement of service or a defence, the claim has been listed for a hearing, or a judgment has been listed in the claim. A summary of the EWI's response to the consultation is available here.
The initial intention had been to introduce the amendment in October. However, in May the Committee noted that the reforms may not be ready to come into force by then, and in the minutes of the Committee's June meeting, the Committee noted that this work would be temporarily paused:
"AL(23)235 - Access to Court Documents (UKSC Cape -v- Dring). Further to the update provided at the last meeting (paragraphs 8 – 13 of the May 2024 minutes refer) and following internal discussions, the work will be temporarily paused. This is to allow the Lady Chief Justice’s Transparency and Open Justice Board (chaired by High Court Judge, Mr Justice Nicklin) to conduct the first phase of its work. It is envisaged that a member of the Board will be nominated to act as liaison with the CPRC. Action: Secretariat to provisionally allocate time in the autumn for the matter to return."
The Lady Chief Justice published the membership and Terms of Reference for the new Transperancy and Open Justice Board in April 2024. The Board's purpose is to lead and coordinate the promotion of transparency and open justice across the Courts and Tribunals in England & Wales, with initial activities including establishing a Stakeholder Committee and finalising the Board's Key Objectives after wide engagement with interested parties. The EWI has written to the Lady Chief Justice offering to represent the Expert Witness community on the Stakeholder Board.
The EWI will continue to monitor the progress of the Access to Court Documents proposals and engage fully in any further consultation on them. We will also continue to engage with the Transperancy and Open Justice Committee.