The National Archives to publish court and tribunal judgements

16 Jun 2021 01:36 PM

Important court and tribunal judgments will be available via The National Archives for the first time from April 2022.

At present there are multiple sources for court judgment publications, of which the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) is the largest. The long-term aim is for all of them to migrate onto The National Archives website.

Judicial Review rulings, European case law, commercial judgments and many more cases of legal significance from the High Court, Upper Tier Tribunal, and the Court of Appeal will be published.

Following recommendations, made by The Legal Education Foundation in their Digital Justice Report, the Ministry of Justice committed to standardising its approach to the publication of judgments.

As the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, The National Archives was chosen because of its long-standing expertise in storing and publishing information securely.

BAILII will continue to provide free access to judgments, for other jurisdictions, including Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth as well as England and Wales, continuing their great service to date.

Jeff James, Chief Executive and Keeper at The National Archives, said: ‘Court and tribunal judgments are vital public records. As world leaders in digital archiving and legal publishing, The National Archives will ensure that judgments are safely preserved and made accessible for the centuries to come.’