HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence

About this service

HMCTS, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, the National Archives, and the independent judiciary, have designed a new licensing framework for the re-use of HMCTS data.

The information licensed under the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence includes court and tribunal lists published via CaTH and can be viewed at Court and Tribunal Hearings - GOV.UK.

CaTH publishes information in a standard, machine-readable format with the ability to share raw data via an Application Programming Interface (API), thereby enabling computational analysis.

If you wish to re-use and undertake computational analysis of the data available, you must apply for a Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence.

Data to be licensed

The licence will make two types of data available for re-use:

• Public Data (from information available to all members of the public)
• Restricted Data (from information available only to those who need it to discharge their professional duties given the sensitivity of the data. This includes accredited journalists, legal professionals and other regulated professional court users, like medical staff and legal advisers)

You may apply to receive:

• Public data only
• Public and Restricted Data if you are an accredited member of the media or an authorised professional user, with existing rights of access to Restricted information
• Public and Restricted Data if you are not a member of the accredited press or legal profession, on the condition that any products or services you create using it are only available to those professionals who have an existing access arrangement for the Restricted Data with HMCTS.

Licences available for computational re-use

We issue two types of licences that permit computational re-use of the data published by the Courts and Tribunals Hearing service. Applications will need to be approved by the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Governance Panel before any licence can be issued.

1. Experimental licence – 1-Year Term

This licence permits you to undertake computational analysis to develop a proof-of-concept. The analysis or service produced cannot be released to customers or the public and may only be made available to the licensee and HMCTS.

2. Transactional licence – 3-Year Term

This licence permits you to undertake computational analysis to enable the development and delivery of commercial services and products.

The decision to grant an Experimental licence or a Transactional licence is at the Panel’s discretion and will be based on the information provided in the application.

Applications will be considered high risk and offered an experimental licence if they re-use court and tribunal lists to:

• produce fully automated legal advice
• perform automation to anticipate legal decisions directly for a client or consumer, such as tools which set expectations for case outcomes through modelling or predictive analytics
• otherwise directly inform or influence the decision of a third-party whether to pursue justice or legal action
• allow personal profiling, especially when combined with other data sets

If an experimental licence is initially approved by the Panel, after one year, the licensee could apply for a transactional licence. The granting of an experimental licence does not guarantee that a transactional licence will be approved.

How to apply

To submit a new application for a Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence, please refer to the start page for the application form and full accompanying guidance. 

Contact us, using the information below, if you are unable to apply online or need help applying.

The Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Governance Panel

Applications will be subject to an initial completeness check by the HMCTS Data Access and Governance Team before being assessed by the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Governance Panel for a decision.
HMCTS will contact you directly if further information is needed to consider your application.

The panel assess each application using the following principles before making one of the following decisions:

• Granting the licence
• Refusing the request (with reasons)
• Providing a licence with conditions

Appealing a decision

If you believe you have the right to appeal a decision, please refer to the full accompanying guidance for the HMCTS Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence application appeals process.

Contact Information

If you have further questions, please contact us via thirdpartydatalicence@justice.gov.uk

Contact us online (recommended)

Or send your question to

Data Access Services Team – Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Post point 6.32-34

102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ

It is encouraged to use a digital method of communication.