David Burrows outlines the extent & limitation of the court’s control of documents
- Limitation on court’s ability to refuse release of documents.
- Limiting access to documents: where strictly necessary.
- Permission to appeal: compelling reasons.
The background to Re R (Children: Control of Court Documents) [2021] EWCA Civ 162, [2021] All ER (D) 58 (Feb) (12 February 2021) shows one extreme of the spectrum of the extent to which the family courts can control release of documents and other evidence in family proceedings. It also provides an opportunity to consider the narrow range of the extent to which a court can control evidence generally, and more specifically (in the case of Re R) the control of release of court documents to a party to proceedings. Normally a party to proceedings would expect to have full access to all documents in a case—as would the court or other parties to proceedings. It will only be in exceptional circumstances, that this right to access will be in
