Post date: 11th May @ 11.15

The National Archives has today taken on responsibility for the external publication of court judgments, creating the first publicly available government database of judgments.

John Sheridan, Digital Director at The National Archives said:

‘We are taking on this role as keepers of the public record, working under the Public Records Act 1958. Court judgments are hugely important public documents. We are providing access for people today, with a modern digital service. We are also preserving the records for future generations. It is a step change in terms of access and use of judgments data.’

The new service, known as Find Case Law, will begin by publishing court and tribunal decisions from the superior courts of record – The Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, and Upper Tribunals. Going forward, The National Archives will continue to work with the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary to include judgments from more courts and tribunals and to add historical judgments to the service. As this is a new service, we will continue to improve it over the next few months and years, please help us to improve the service by giving us feedback. Read more about it here.