Frequently Asked Questions

Open Court Data UK is a free public platform that makes UK court records searchable and accessible to everyone. We aggregate data from magistrates' courts, county civil courts, and professional legal registers so that journalists, researchers, legal professionals, and members of the public can explore court proceedings, case histories, and professional profiles without specialist legal training.

Yes — entirely free. You do not need to create an account to search and browse court records, case listings, barrister profiles, or solicitor profiles. Optional account creation is available for features such as saved cases and personalised alerts.

Open Court Data UK is an independent, UK-based data transparency project. We are not affiliated with HMCTS (His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service), the Solicitors Regulation Authority, or the Bar Standards Board. Our mission is to make already-public legal information easier to find.

Official HMCTS services such as the Court and Tribunal Finder or the Cause List are authoritative sources, but they are designed for practitioners and can be difficult to navigate for members of the public. Open Court Data UK presents the same publicly available information in a more searchable, user-friendly format, with additional context and cross-referencing across datasets.

We currently cover: (1) Criminal hearings from magistrates' courts — including defendant names, case references, hearing dates, prosecutors, and magistrate names; (2) Civil hearings from county courts — including case names, parties, judges, courtrooms, and hearing types; (3) Individual insolvency notices from the Insolvency Service; (4) Disqualified director records from Companies House.

Criminal and civil hearing data is updated regularly as new court lists are published. Insolvency and disqualified director data is refreshed on a scheduled basis from official government sources. Each record includes a hearing or publication date so you can assess its recency. Historical data may extend back several years depending on when the relevant dataset became available.

Yes. Use the search box on any list page — criminal cases, civil cases, solicitors, or barristers — to filter by name, case reference, court, or date. On criminal case list pages you can filter by court name, hearing date range, and hearing type simultaneously. Detail pages for each case show all related hearings and linked professional profiles.

Several reasons are possible: (1) The hearing may have a publication restriction in place under s.4(2) or s.11 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, which prevents us from displaying details; (2) The case may pre-date our dataset coverage; (3) There may be a short delay between a hearing being listed and it appearing in our system; (4) Youth court proceedings are not reported publicly and are excluded entirely.

A publication restriction (sometimes called a reporting restriction) is a court order that limits what information can be published about a case or the people involved. Common examples include anonymity orders protecting victims' identities, postponement orders during ongoing trials, and orders protecting children's identities. Where a restriction is in place, we display a notice but do not reveal the restricted details.

Our barrister directory contains data sourced from the Bar Standards Board's publicly available register. Each profile includes the barrister's full name, Inn of Court, date of call, practising status, areas of practice, and chambers address. Where available, we also link to associated judgments published by the National Archives.

Our solicitor directory is sourced from the Solicitors Regulation Authority's public register. Each profile shows the solicitor's name, SRA ID number, admission date, current status (e.g. Practising, Non-Practising), firm name, and office address. You can also see other solicitors at the same firm.

We sync with the SRA and BSB public datasets on a scheduled basis. For the most current regulatory status — for example if a solicitor has very recently been struck off — please verify directly with the Law Society Find a Solicitor or the Bar Standards Board.

An individual insolvency notice is a public record published by the Insolvency Service when a person is made bankrupt, enters a Debt Relief Order (DRO), or an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) is registered. These notices are legally required to be published and form part of the public record. They include the person's name, address, insolvency type, date, and the court that made the order.

A disqualified director is a person who has been barred by a court or the Secretary of State from acting as a company director for a fixed period, under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986. Reasons include fraudulent trading, wrongful trading, persistent filing failures, or involvement in an insolvent company. These records come from the publicly available Companies House disqualifications register.

Disqualification periods vary from 2 to 15 years depending on the severity of the conduct. Undertakings (voluntary agreements) are also available as an alternative to court proceedings. During the period of disqualification, the individual cannot legally be a director of, or in any way involved in the management of, a UK limited company without court permission.

Yes. All data on Open Court Data UK is sourced from publicly available government registers and official court lists. The principle of open justice — established in the UK courts and reinforced by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 — requires that justice be administered in public. Publishing information from public court lists and official registers is lawful and protected by freedom of expression principles.

Because we publish only information that is already in the public domain from official sources, we are generally unable to remove individual records. However, if you believe an entry contains factually incorrect information, or if you have a specific legal basis for requesting suppression (e.g. a court order), please use the Report button on the relevant page or contact us directly. We treat all such requests seriously and will review them individually.

Court records contain names and partial addresses as published in official lists — we do not add or embellish this information. For users who create accounts, we store only the minimum data necessary (email address and name). We do not sell personal data. Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

We use PostHog analytics (a GDPR-compliant tool) to understand how visitors use the site, helping us improve it. We also use a session cookie if you are signed in. We do not use advertising cookies or third-party ad tracking. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

No. All search and browse functionality is available without an account. Signing in (via Google or Microsoft) unlocks additional features: saving cases to your personal list, receiving updates on followed cases, and a personalised dashboard.

Yes. Every case and profile page has a permanent URL you can copy and share. We also provide built-in sharing buttons for WhatsApp, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn on all detail pages, as well as a one-click copy-link button.

Click the Report button found at the bottom of any case or profile page. Select the reason (inaccurate information, privacy concern, or other) and provide any additional context. Our team reviews all reports. For urgent legal matters, please also contact us directly via the About page.

A public API is on our roadmap. If you have a specific use case — for example academic research, journalism, or integration into a legal workflow tool — please reach out via the About page and we will discuss options.