Dr Jeffrey Wale shares his concerns about the non-party document access pilot
The Transparency and Open Justice Board (TOJB), introduced by the Lady Chief Justice in April 2024, has now crystallised its key objectives for delivering open justice. These objectives develop three broad themes. First, courts and tribunals should promote open justice to enable the public to understand and scrutinise the administration of justice; and thereby seek to uphold public confidence and support improved public understanding of their constitutional role. Second, the principles of transparency and open justice generally require the proceedings and decisions of courts and tribunals to be open and accessible to everyone, supporting and promoting the reporting of proceedings and any related decisions. There are practical issues about how this second objective is delivered, but as a starting point, it would include granting non-parties access to relevant court documents. Third, open justice involves a default position that is subject to certain derogations imposed by statute—for example, certain types of reporting restriction. Where derogations from open justice are granted by the courts, they should be applied clearly, consistently and
