Disclosure: electronic disclosure: what is it and how do I deal with it?

This practice note explains the rules and practice on electronic disclosure for cases subject to the disclosure regime set out in Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) 31, Practice Direction (PD) 31A and, in particular, PD 31B (Disclosure of Electronic Documents).

Since 1 January 2019, a separate disclosure regime has applied to most cases in the Business and Property Courts (B&PCs), initially under the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (DPS) set out in PD 51U and, since 1 October 2022, under the permanent PD 57AD which replaced PD 51U in substantially the same form (see Legal update, Disclosure Pilot Scheme approved and to become permanent in the B&PCs from 1 October 2022 as PD 57AD). Under the DPS / PD 57AD, there is a significantly revised approach to disclosure. For consideration of the approach to electronic documents under that regime, see Practice note, Disclosure in the B&PCs: electronic disclosure: what is it and how do I deal with it?.

For details of our comprehensive materials on DPS / PD 57AD regime, see Disclosure in the B&PCs toolkit.

In B&PCs cases where PD 57AD does not apply (including the excluded categories listed in PD 57AD.1.4), and where no other specific disclosure regime is applicable (such as under the Shorter and Flexible Trials Schemes in PD 57AB), the CPR 31 regime will apply.

Changes to CPR 28.2 and CPR 31.5 under the Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2024 (SI 2024/106): Changes to CPR 28.2 implemented on 6 April 2024 appear to have been incorrectly applied on the justice.gov.uk website. Further, the apparently intended changes to CPR 28.2 and CPR 31.5 have led to a lack of clarity regarding the approach to disclosure. We have sought clarification from the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and will update our materials once the position has been clarified. For more details, see Legal update, Disclosure: potential confusion regarding changes to CPR 28.2 and CPR 31.5.