From 1 January 2026, a pilot scheme was introduced into the English civil courts: Practice Direction 51ZH (PD 51ZH) – Access to Public Domain Documents. Its aim: to enhance open justice.
Introduced initially in the Commercial Court, London Circuit Commercial Court and the Financial List, the Pilot is intended to run until 31 December 2027, with an early review built in. Now 10 months into operation, the key question is what this increased transparency means in practice for businesses litigating in England & Wales.
This article focusses on what the Pilot means for international businesses and overseas lawyers.
What does the pilot do?
The Pilot’s aim is to make it easier for non-parties to be able to access court documents.
Historically documents relied upon in open court could be obtained by non-parties, but they had to apply to the court and provide justification for seeking access. The Pilot changes that by requiring parties to file “Public Domain Documents” (PDDs) including:
- Skeleton Arguments and written submissions;
- Witness Statements and affidavits (not including exhibits);
- Expert reports (including appendices);
- Any document the judge considers “critical to understanding the case” (presumably this will include contractual documents, for example); and
- Any documents agreed by the parties to be PDDs.
Once filed, PDDs are available publicly and can be accessed by any third party, without notice to the parties and without the need for court approval
Parties can seek Filing Modification Orders which, if granted by the court, allow access to certain documents to be restricted or sensitive information to be redacted.
What does this mean for international clients and overseas counsel?
- Significantly enhanced remote access to English litigation – overseas lawyers can access key Court documents directly online meaning they can monitor proceedings. This will be particularly relevant where there are parallel proceedings underway.
- Greater exposure of documents on a global basis – regulators, competitors, media can access the documents ‘including contractual documents if they are deemed ‘critical to understanding the case’.
- Strategic implications for multi‑jurisdictional disputes – you can enable better alignment with your global litigation strategy and coordination between your global legal teams.
- A mindful approach to protect confidential and commercially sensitive information – using confidentiality orders and Filing Modification Orders.
- Think twice about forum – this is another reminder to consider arbitration or another private dispute resolution method over court litigation if increased transparency could be problematic for your client, for others of course the greater openness will be appealing.
