New pilot to provide greater access to Commercial Court case documents

A new pilot scheme to be launched next year will help provide easier access to documents deployed by parties in court proceedings.

As part of efforts to advance the principle of open justice in the civil courts, the pilot will initially be launched in the Commercial Court and London Circuit Commercial Court of the King’s Bench Division and the Financial List (Commercial Court and Chancery Division).

The two-year scheme has been developed by a sub-committee of the CPRC which is reviewing access to court documents and is aligned with the aims of the Transparency and Open Justice Board. It will give non-parties online access to some public domain documents from trials or hearings, for example skeleton arguments or witness statements. These will be available via the court filing system.

The Access to Public Domain Documents Pilot will come into force on Thursday 1 January 2026 and run until Friday 31 December 2027.

Lady Justice Cockerill, who chairs the relevant CPRC sub-committee, said:

“The announcement of the pilot marks a positive step forward and will encourage greater understanding of both the courts and the cases that are heard within them.”

The pilot is made possible by the new Practice Direction 51ZH – Access to Public Domain Documents.

The full Practice Direction and accompanying Guidance Note can be downloaded below.