Committee publication · Correspondence · 17 July 2026
Correspondence from Sarah Sackman KC MP, Minister for Courts and Legal Services, dated 15 July 2026 relating to the expansion of court transparency measures
From: Justice Committee
Summary
Sarah Sackman KC MP, Minister for Courts and Legal Services, updates the Justice Committee on two major expansions of court transparency. The Court and Tribunal Hearings Service (CaTH) now includes criminal court hearing lists (Crown Court and magistrates' courts as of 1 April 2026). A new Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence enables organisations to conduct computational analysis of court data at scale, subject to judicial oversight and data protection safeguards.
Key findings
- CaTH portal now publishes all criminal court hearing lists (Crown Court and magistrates' courts) alongside existing civil, family, and tribunal listings, accessible free without registration
- Authenticated users (journalists, legal professionals) can access enhanced hearing lists with greater case detail and receive notifications, also free of charge
- New Third-Party Data Licence launched allowing organisations to conduct approved computational analysis of court and tribunal data at scale, subject to application and panel approval
- Data Licence includes safeguards: judicial panel oversight of applications, mandatory security standards, prohibition on search engine indexing and LLM sharing, data retention limits balancing transparency with privacy
- Licence granted free of charge with application forms and guidance published on GOV.UK; multiple licences may be granted to enable broad access
Tone
ProceduralTopics
court-transparencyopen-justicedata-sharingdata-protection
Key actors
Sarah Sackman KC MP, Andy Slaughter MP, Ministry of Justice, HMCTS, Justice Committee
Notable line
“Open justice relies on court proceedings being transparent and accessible.”
Key Quotes
“Open justice relies on court proceedings being transparent and accessible. This Government is committed to ensuring that appropriate court and tribunal information is available to the public, legal professionals, journalists, and researchers in a way that is both meaningful and secure.”
“Since 1 April 2026, Crown Court and magistrates' court hearing lists have been added, meaning all criminal court hearing lists are now available too.”
“This enables organisations that successfully apply to conduct approved computational analysis of court and tribunal data, including court hearing lists, at scale.”
“The data sharing licence includes robust safeguards. Applicants must satisfy a panel chaired by a member of the judiciary, that their proposed use is lawful and consistent with open justice principles, judicial independence, data protection rules, anti-bias, and computer-generated transparency.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗