On 13 November 2020, the President of the High Court issued Practice Direction HC101, which came into effect on 22 February 2021. The Practice Direction permits any member of the public to seek access to the written submissions provided to the court by the legal representatives of parties in civil proceedings, once an order has been made to that effect by the court when giving judgment. The court will not make any order permitting submissions to be made public in cases heard in camera or in cases that are the subject of reporting restrictions.
The President of the High Court noted that the new Practice Direction was provided for “in the interests of transparency and consistent with the principle of open justice”. Where necessary, and in order to comply with data protection laws, written submissions will need to be redacted by the relevant party in circumstances where the publication of such information is restricted or prohibited by law. Such submissions will be headed “Written Submissions for Public Release”.
The Practice Direction pertains to the written submissions of practising barristers and solicitors only and therefore does not appear to apply to written submissions of lay litigants.
A member of the public can seek access to the written submissions by requesting a copy from the Principal Registrar at the Central Office of the High Court. The Principal Registrar can either comply with the request directly by providing an electronic copy of the written submissions on payment of any applicable fee, or seek the direction of the trial judge who made the order.
A copy of the practice direction can be found here.
