Practice notes: All Senior Courts benches

Protocols: Participation in Remote Hearings and Remote Viewing of Hearings in Senior Courts

Protocol for Participation in Remote Hearings - effective from 23 November 2023

Protocol for Remote Viewing of Hearings - effective from 23 November 2023

Civil electronic document protocol for Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court

The Senior Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol 2019 revokes and replaces the Senior Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol revised as at 22 May 2017. The 2019 Protocol comes into effect for casebooks created after 1 March 2019.  It  changes the requirements for creating an electronic case book to make casebooks simpler to construct and use.  Practitioners should note the altered architecture, new numbering convention, and the use of a single folder.  A clarification to clause 1.6 was made on 15 May 2019:

• Senior Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol 2019  (Amended 16 September 2021) (PDF, 269 KB)

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The Supreme Court released a new  Practice Note (for civil matters and Protocol for criminal matters on 23 October 2020.

Changes come into effect on 1 November 2020.

The Court of Appeal released the Electronic Document Practice Note 2019, effective on 30 September 2019.

 The High Court has a practice note for the use of electronic common bundles and electronic casebooks in the High Court.  It can be found in the Practice Notes for the High Court.

COVID-19 Protocols all courts

Updates to this Protocol page will be made reflecting changes in restrictions.

Archived

• Senior Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol 2019, dated 1 March 2019 (PDF, 289 KB)
• Senior Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol (22 May 2017, PDF 544 KB) replaces the protocol issued by the Higher Courts on 27 May 2016.  It modifies the heading to reflect the change in name from Higher Courts to Senior Courts.
• Higher Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol (27 May 2016, PDF 393 KB). Following a series of seminars with the profession a revised Civil Electronic Document Protocol was issued by the Higher Courts in May 2016, replacing the protocol issued in April 2016. The purpose of the protocol is to encourage and facilitate the use of electronic documents for civil cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court. The protocol describes the term "casebook" and how it is to be used for High Court trials. It gives greater guidance about how to name and place materials within the electronic format. Naming conventions for descriptions including dates have changed. In May 2016 para 7.2 was modified.
• Higher Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol effective 12 April 2016 (PDF, 345 KB)
• Higher Courts Civil Electronic Document Protocol effective 10 December 2015 (PDF, 319 KB)