Direction

Explanation

Disclosure of documents will be dealt with as follows:
a) by 4pm on [date] the parties must give to each other standard disclosure of documents [relevant to the issues of…… ] by list [and category]
b) by 4pm on [date] any request must be made to inspect the original of, or to provide a copy of a disclosable document
c) Any such request unless objected to must be complied with within [14] days of the request

All parties must list all the disclosable documents they know of. This will be followed by obtaining copies of or inspecting the documents.
(In simple cases, the court may just tell you to send copies to the other party: see below.)

You can see an explanation of “disclosure of documents” and in particular what documents are disclosable and what objections may be made to producing them.

d) By 4pm on [date] each party must serve and file with the Court a list of issues relevant to the search for and disclosure of electronically stored documents, or must confirm there are no such issues, following Practice Direction 31B

Searching records for emails etc may be time-consuming and you may want to limit your search. You may be able to agree this with the other party. If not (if there are issues about it), you must send the court and the other party a list of those issues. If there are no issues, the direction requires you to say so.
The Practice Direction mentioned provides a lot of detail about disclosure of electronic documents.

Disclosure of documents will be dealt with as follows:

1. By 4pm on [date] the parties must give to each other standard disclosure of documents by serving copies together with a disclosure statement.
2. By 4pm on [date] any request must be made to inspect the original of a copy document which has been served
3. Any such request unless objected to must be complied with within [14] days of the request.

This direction requires a simplified form of disclosure of documents.

The copy documents must be accompanied by the following statement:
I have carried out a reasonable and proportionate search to locate all the documents which I am
required to disclose under the order made by the court on [date]

Each party must:

1. serve any request for clarification or further information based on any document disclosed or statement served by another party no later than fourteen days after disclosure or service and
2. reply to any such request served on it within fourteen days of service of the request.

A party is entitled to request clarification of a document that has been disclosed; and the other party must respond to the request.
This direction sets a timetable for making the request and giving the response.

The [party] must retain all original records relevant to the issues in this Claim

Records can be lost in routine “housekeeping”. The party is directed not to let this happen to records that are relevant to the claim.

The parties must retain all electronically stored documents relating to the issues in this Claim.

Particular care is needed if documents stored in a computer system are not to be lost.

The Defendant must retain the original clinical notes relating to the issues in this Claim. The Defendant must give facilities for inspection by the Claimant, the Claimant’s legal advisers and experts of these original notes on 7 days written notice.

This direction is given in cases where someone is said to have been injured by negligent medical treatment. The notes made when the treatment was carried out will be important evidence.

Legible copies of the medical and educational records of the Claimant / Deceased / [injured person] are to be placed in a separate paginated bundle by the Claimant’s Solicitors and kept up to date.  All references to medical notes are to be made by reference to the pages in that bundle

These records will be important evidence where someone is said to have been injured by negligent medical treatment. The Claimant’s solicitors must keep them in an orderly and up-to-date bundle to which all parties and experts will refer.

Unless by 4pm on [date] the Claimant serves copies of the following documents which are in his control then the claimant shall be debarred from relying upon the fact of impecuniosity for the purposes of determining the appropriate rate of hire:

1. copies of the claimant’s wage slips or equivalent documentation evidencing the approximate level of available income to the claimant for the period of 3 months pre-accident and covering the period of hire;
2. copy bank and credit card statements for a period of 3 months pre-accident and covering the period of hire

This is a direction that is likely to be made where there is a claim for “credit hire” following a road traffic collision. The claimant’s claim includes the cost of taking credit to hire a vehicle. This can succeed only if he did not have enough money available of his own. He is ordered to provide copies of documents that may show whether he did or did not have enough money available.