Rule 5.10 Request or application determined by the courtI1
England and Wales
This rule applies where—
the court officer refers to the court a request for information under rule 5.8 (Request for information about a case) or rule 5.9. (Request for information by a party or person directly affected by a case); or
a party or other person applies to the court under rule 5.8(8) to prohibit a supply of information without the court’s permission.
The court officer must—
serve a request for information on a party or person likely to be affected by it, including—
the applicant for any direction, order or warrant that the request concerns which was made or issued in the absence of the party or person making the request,
the applicant under rule 5.8(8) for a prohibition that affects the request (or may do so, where that application has yet to be determined), and
anyone else, and to such extent, as the court directs; and
notify the party or person making the request of—
the date of its service under this rule, and
the identity of each person served with it, if the court so directs.
If a party or person served with a request for information objects to the supply of the information requested the objector must—
give notice of the objection not more than 20 business days after service of the request, or within any longer period allowed by the court;
serve that notice on the court officer and on the party or person making the request; and
if the objector wants a hearing, explain why one is needed.
A notice of objection to a request for information must explain—
whether the objection is to the supply of the whole of the information requested, or only to the supply of a specified part or specified parts;
whether the objection applies without limit of time, or only for a specified period (for example, until a date or event specified by the objector); and
the grounds of the objection.
Where a notice of objection to a request for information includes material that the objector thinks ought not be revealed to the party or person making the request, the objector must—
omit that material from the notice served on that party or person;
mark the material to show that it is only for the court; and
with that material include an explanation of why it has been withheld.
The court must not determine a request for information, and information requested must not be supplied, until—
each party or person served with the request has had at least 20 business days, or any longer period allowed by the court, in which to object or make other representations; and
the court is satisfied that in all the circumstances every such party or person has had a reasonable opportunity to do so.
The court may determine a request for information or an application under rule 5.8(8)—
at a hearing in public or private, or without a hearing; but
any hearing must be in private, unless the court otherwise directs—
where a request for information concerns a direction, order or warrant made or issued in the absence of the party or person making the request, or
on an application under rule 5.8(8).
Where a notice of objection to a request for information includes material that the objector thinks ought not be revealed to the party or person making the request—
any hearing of the request may take place, wholly or in part, in the absence of the party or person making it; and
at any such hearing the general rule is that the court must consider, in the following sequence—
representations first by the party or person making the request and then by the objector, in the presence of both, and then
further representations by the objector, in the absence of the party or person making the request
but the court may direct other arrangements for the hearing.
In deciding whether to order a supply of information requested or to prohibit a supply of information by the court officer without the court’s permission the court must have regard to—
the open justice principle;
any reporting restriction;
rights and obligations under other legislation;
the importance of any public interest in the withholding of that information, or in its supply only in part or subject to conditions (which public interest might be, for example, in preventing injustice, protecting others’ rights, protecting the confidentiality of a criminal investigation or protecting national security); and
the extent to which that information is otherwise available to the party or person making the request.
Where the court orders the supply of information the supply may be, at the court’s direction and on such terms as the court directs—
by word of mouth;
in writing, including by written certificate or extract from a court record;
by a copy of a document; or
by allowing access to a document, including a recording (other than a recording to which rule 5.5 applies (Recording and transcription of proceedings in the Crown Court)).
F1[Note. See also rule 5.7 (The open justice principle) and rules 5.8(3)(b) and 5.9(3)(b) (which latter two rules require reasons for a request for information the supply of which is not required by rule 5.8(4) or rule 5.9(4)). The two main purposes of the open justice principle as it applies to the supply of information from court records are (i) to enable public scrutiny of the way in which the courts decide cases so as to provide public accountability and secure public confidence; and (ii) to enable public understanding of the justice system. The core aim is to ensure appropriate transparency for the work of the courts and the judges who sit in them. A request for information to be determined under this rule must explain (i) why that information is sought, and (ii) how its supply would advance the open justice principle.
The court’s decision under this rule may be affected by—
a reporting restriction imposed by legislation or by the court (Part 6 lists the reporting restrictions that might apply);
Articles 6, 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
section 18 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996f3, which affects the supply of information about material, other than evidence, disclosed by the prosecutor;
Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018f4 (sections 43(3) and 117 of which make exceptions for criminal proceedings from some other provisions of that Act); and
sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012f5, which affect the supply of information about applications for legal aid.]
Annotations
Textual amendments
- F1
Words in rule 5.10 Note substituted (6.4.2026) by The Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2026 (S.I. 2026/47), rules 3, 5
Commencement
Footnotes
- f1
- f2
1974 c. 53; section 5 was amended by section 15 of, and paragraphs 77 and 78 of Schedule 4 to, the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4) and by sections 126 and 139 of, and paragraph 2 of Schedule 21 to, the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10).
- f3
- f4
- f5