High Court Disclosure Pilot under Practice Direction 51U extended to end of 2022 – further amendments in pipeline

30 July 2021

Yesterday (Thursday 29 July 2021) it was confirmed that the Business and Property Courts’ Disclosure Pilot under Practice Direction 51U will be extended until 31 December 2022. This is unlikely to surprise most lawyers practising in Business and Property.

The Master of the Rolls and the Lord Chancellor have already approved the extension which will come into force on 1 October 2021.

The announcement also addresses further prospective amendments to the Pilot, which are in the process of being signed off by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee.

These include:

  • a slimmed down procedure for “Less Complex Claims” (defined by the draft amendments as claims worth less than £500k and without any complicating factors)
  • recognition that multi-party claims may require a bespoke approach to disclosure.

These amendments are due to be considered by the Civil Procedure Rules Committee in September 2021. They will then require ministerial approval.

Read the announcement on the extension of the Disclosure Pilot Scheme and proposed amendments in full on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website (includes links to draft amended Disclosure Pilot provisions and documents).