Disclosure of Documents in United Kingdom

Definition of Disclosure And Inspection of Documents

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Disclosure And Inspection of Documents : (in court proceedings)

Disclosure by a party to civil litigation of the *documents in his possession, custody, or power relating to matters in question in the action and their subsequent inspection by the opposing party; before the introduction of the *Civil Procedure Rules in 1999, this procedure was called discovery and inspection of documents. For the purposes of disclosure, documents extend beyond paper to include anything upon which information is capable of being recorded and retrieved (e.g. tapes, computer disks). In *small claims track proceedings, the initial disclosure is by a list of documents that the party intends to rely upon. In *fast track and *multi-track proceedings, the lists must include all documents, both those that support the party making the list and those adversely affecting that party, which they would prefer not to disclose. Directions for disclosure generally take place at the *allocation stage or the *case management conference and, unless the court directs or the parties agree otherwise, there will normally be a direction for standard disclosure. This involves a reasonable search by the parties to disclose documents on which that party intends to rely, documents that may be adverse to their own case or another party’s case, documents that support another party’s case, and documents that are required to be disclosed by any relevant *Practice Direction. Some documents, although they must be disclosed in the list, may be privileged and thus exempted from the subsequent requirement to produce them for inspection (See privilege). Once a party has served a list of documents, the other party, together with any co-defendants, must be allowed to inspect the (nonprivileged) documents referred to in the list within seven days of serving on the first party a written notice requesting inspection. If copies are needed, a further written notice must be served, with an undertaking to meet reasonable copying charges. In the absence of disclosure and/or inspection, the court has power to direct that general or specific disclosure and/or inspection be made.

See also failure to make disclosure; nondisclosure.