Guidance

HMCTS Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Application Guidance

Updated 15 July 2026

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

1. About the third-party courts and tribunals data licence

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, the National Archives, and the independent Judiciary, have worked together to design 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 the Court and Tribunal Hearings Service (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. 

This is version 1.0 of the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence. The Licensor may, from time to time, issue new versions. 

Further context, best practice and guidance relating to the re-use of public sector information can be found on The National Archives’ website: UK Government Licensing Framework. 

You can access other HMCTS data via the following link: Get access to HMCTS data.

1.1 About the Court and Tribunal Hearings Service 

Court and tribunal lists tell court users and the public what hearings will take place, and when, at specific sites. 

Listing is a judicial function. The judiciary are independent of government and individual judges have autonomy to decide when and in what form a case is listed to be heard. 

HMCTS compiles a large number of lists across each jurisdiction and publishes them online via CaTH on GOV.UK. 

Information published or provided via CaTH can include information covered by Crown Database rights. This material is licensed for re-use under the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence or the Open Justice Licence v2.0. 

In time, CaTH will publish lists for all courts and tribunals and registers of outcomes from the criminal courts in accordance with Testing for accessibility - Service Manual - GOV.UK.

1.2 Managing publication of lists 

HMCTS anticipates that in a few rare circumstances, hearing lists may be either updated or removed after their initial publishing. 

HMCTS will always publish the latest version authorised by the court or tribunal.  

HMCTS as a rule will publish the next day’s court and tribunal lists at 11:59pm and will remove them at 11:59pm on the date of publishing. 

There is scope for a jurisdiction to publish specified court and tribunal lists further in advance than the preceding day and scope for those lists to be published for a greater length of time than the day.  

Once a court or tribunal list or register has been published, HMCTS will only withdraw it from publication if we are instructed to do so by a court or tribunal. 

1.3 Aims of the third-party courts and tribunals data licence 

The principle of open justice is fundamental to our justice system. Enabling greater transparency is vital to the rule of law and building the public’s trust and confidence in our justice system.  

The Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licensing regime will better uphold the principle of open justice by granting greater and easier access to court and tribunal data whilst enabling HMCTS to facilitate re-use transparently and responsibly at scale. 

In addition to upholding the principle of open justice, the licence aims to deliver outcomes that benefit the public interest; such as promoting innovation in sectors including legal technology and research, reducing unmet legal demand and boosting economic growth. 

1.4 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 them to discharge their professional duties given the sensitivity of the data, including 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 

• more information on press accreditation is available in the HMCTS Media Protocol. Information on which professional users are entitled to access Restricted information is available in the HMCTS Professional court users protocol

2. Computational re-use under the third-party courts and tribunals data licence  

HMCTS complies with the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 and encourages approved licensees to perform computational analysis of the information that we produce, hold and disseminate.  

Computational analysis refers to the processing of data in bulk and at a scale that requires a machine. This includes parsing of non-machine-readable information; programmatic scanning and searching of information published and the use of algorithms to conduct analysis. It does not include manual processing by a person, even if this covers large numbers of records. 

The Crown holds database rights in court and tribunal lists. Due to these rights, 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.

2.1 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. 

1. 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 applicants will be 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 later.

3. Legal basis 

The lawful basis for providing both Public and Restricted Data is Article 6(e) of the UK GDPR. Where there is data relating to criminal offences and convictions in both the Public and Restricted Data, Article 10 of the UK GDPR also applies. 

HMCTS is licensing the Public Data in accordance with its obligations under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015.  

HMCTS is licensing the Restricted Data on the basis of the Lord Chancellor’s inherent powers, arising from his statutory duty to provide an effective and efficient courts and tribunals service, as expressed in section 1 of the Courts Act 2003, section 39 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 and fundamental to his responsibility of upholding the rule of law.  

If your application is successful, you will be granted permission by HMCTS under delegated authority from The Keeper of Public Records at the National Archives, to re-use the information.  

Without a licence, you are prevented from doing any of the following to the information available under the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence:  

• copying the information 

• distributing copies of it, whether free of charge or for sale 

• renting or lending copies of it 

• making an adaptation of it 

• sharing it on the internet

4. Personal data 

Hearing lists include personal data such as the names of parties and judges, and may also include potentially sensitive details depending on the list type. Licensing ensures that the information is handled responsibly and legally. Those who use this information must be aware of their responsibilities and not interfere with the administration of justice.  

The Ministry of Justice is the data controller for the purposes of facilitating the re-use of the data, whether this involves computational analysis or not. This means it is responsible for the publication of personal data contained in the information published on CaTH. 

When facilitating the re-use of this personal data, HMCTS and the Ministry of Justice adhere to the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) Data Sharing Code: A Code of Practice. 

If you are successful in being granted a licence, you will become a data controller. You can find out more about what this means at ICO Controller and processors. You must comply with data protection law.

5. Data protection 

In order to re-use the personal data published by CaTH, you must adhere to the terms of the Data Sharing Agreement agreed with HMCTS upon receipt of a Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence. 

As part of your application for the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence, you will need to:  

• provide a Data Protection Impact Assessment.

• provide an Appropriate Policy Document, if you are applying to computationally re-use criminal offence data and it is required for your proposed re-use case 

• specify how long you need to retain the data for, which should be no longer than necessary for your proposed use case

6. Exclusions 

This licence does not cover:  

• information that has neither been published nor disclosed under information access legislation (including the Freedom of Information Acts for the UK and Scotland) by or with the consent of the Licensor 

• emblems and insignia of the courts and tribunals 

• third party rights the Licensor is not authorised to license 

• information subject to other intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, and design rights

7. No warranty  

The Information is licensed ‘as is’ and the Licensor excludes all representations, warranties, obligations and liabilities in relation to the Information to the maximum extent permitted by law.  

The Licensor is not liable for any errors or omissions in the Information and is not liable for any loss, injury or damage of any kind caused by its use.  

The Licensor does not guarantee that the datasets supplied are complete. The Licensor may wish to supply a limited or redacted version of the datasets and reserves the right to do so.  

The Licensor does not guarantee the continued supply of the Information and reserves the right to cease the supply of data and revoke a licence at any time.

8. Governing Law  

This licence is governed by the laws of England and Wales.

9. Charges levied upon granting of a third-party courts and tribunals data licence 

The initial grant of this licence is provided free of charge for the duration of the licence term.  

Charges may be introduced for the licence in future. If they are introduced during your licence term, you will only become subject to them upon renewal or receipt of a new licence under the new terms.

10. Before you apply  

When you apply, you will need to upload a completed Data Protection Impact Assessment. 

You may also need to include or upload: 

• a completed appropriate policy document  

• a completed algorithmic transparency recording standard template  

• details of any relevant certification scheme  

• any other documentation relevant to your application 

Prior to beginning an application, please refer to the outbound API regulations document to ensure that your systems have compatibility with CaTH’s API.

11. How to apply 

You can apply using our online form. 

Contact us if you are unable to apply online or need help applying. 

HMCTS will confirm that your application has been received. You will not need to do anything further. We will contact you if further information is required.

12. Review and approval process  

Applications will be subject to a completeness check by the HMCTS Data Access & Governance Team before being assessed by the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Governance Panel.  

We are open and transparent and will treat all applications to undertake computational analysis of information in a fair and non-discriminatory way.  

Proposed use cases must not be detrimental to the principles of the justice system and of secure data processing. The application process will assess whether proposed use cases may adversely affect the following 12 principles:  

1. The Rule of Law  

2. Open justice  

3. The independence of the courts, tribunals and the judiciary  

4. Public confidence in the administration of justice  

5. Dignity of the court  

6. Appropriate scrutiny  

7. Anti-discriminatory harm  

8. Anti bias  

9. Personal privacy  

10. Discoverability  

11. Algorithmic transparency  

12. Accurate data representation  

The Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Governance Panel may ask you for more information in order to make a decision.  

After assessing each application, the panel will make one of the following decisions:  

• granting the licence  

• refusing the request (with reasons)  

• granting the licence with conditions 

If your application is approved by the Panel, we will grant a licence in accordance with the appropriate conditions of use. The data will be shared with you via CaTH’s outbound API. Licensees should follow principles set out in the publishing policy before sharing any product derived from information provided by HMCTS. 

The Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Governance Panel will consider the requested retention period as part of its assessment of the application. The panel may require a shorter or longer retention period where justified. Any decision will be made in accordance with relevant Ministry of Justice policy and, where appropriate, legal advice. 

The approved retention period will be set out in the licence conditions. 

If your application is rejected by the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence panel, we will provide a summary of the reasons. 

HMCTS will keep a record of all applications. A list of successful applicants and their public use case statement will be published.  

We will also publish information about applications that have been rejected by the panel and the basis for that rejection. If an approved licensee misuses the data and breaches the conditions of the licence, we will include the unlicensed use-case in this list.

13. Appeals process: applicants have the right to appeal if they believe that:  

• the decision and evidence for the decision were incorrect or unfair and supporting evidence is provided for this  

• relevant evidence was not considered throughout the decision-making process  

• the decision-making process was not followed correctly  

• conditions required are disproportionate to what has been outlined in the application form  

Any appeal must be made within 20 working days of receiving notification of the panel’s decision. 

Before submitting an appeal, applicants may request:  

• clarification of the decision made by the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence Governance Panel  

• a summary of the evidence considered. This information will be included in any rejection decision, however it can be reiterated if required  

This step is encouraged to help resolve any misunderstandings without going through the process of an appeal.  

If you are still dissatisfied with the response and would like to appeal a decision made, you may submit a formal written appeal. We will conduct an internal review of the matter and aim to respond within 20 working days of the date of receipt.  

To appeal a decision, contact us online (recommended): 

thirdpartydatalicence@justice.gov.uk 

If you cannot contact us online, you can write to us at:  

Data Access & Governance Team – Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence   HM Courts & Tribunals Service    Post point 6.32-34     102 Petty France    London    SW1H 9AJ    

Please include:  

• your name and the name of your organisation  

• the date the application was made  

• the date you received notification of the panel’s decsion   

• details of your concerns regarding the decision  

• any supporting information you wish us to consider  

Upon receipt of your appeal:   

• if your appeal is accepted: we will outline the details of our offer and the relevant next steps 

• if your Appeal is refused: we will send a written response explaining the reasons for our decision 

• if the decision is upheld: we will confirm the reasons for maintaining the decision

14. Definitions 

In this guidance the terms below have the following meanings:  

• ‘Information’ means information protected by copyright or by database right offered for use under the terms of this licence, namely court and tribunal lists published by HMCTS 

• ‘Licensor’ means (a) in relation to copyright, the Lord Chancellor and (b) in relation to database right, the Lord Chancellor, under delegated authority from the Keeper of Public Records  

• ‘Use’ as a verb, means doing any act which is restricted by copyright or database right, whether in the original medium or in any other medium, and includes without limitation distributing, copying, adapting, modifying as may be technically necessary to use it in a different mode or format  

• ‘You’ means the natural or legal person, or body of persons corporate or incorporate, acquiring rights under this licence

15. Contact us 

If you have any questions about the Third-Party Courts and Tribunals Data Licence, please contact us by email: thirdpartydatalicence@justice.gov.uk 

We are still actively developing CaTH based on user feedback. This includes improving the experience of how data re-users can access the data.  

If you believe a court and tribunal list we should be publishing is missing from the service, or you need to contact us about another query, please email: publicationsinformation@justice.gov.uk 

You can provide feedback on the service by completing our feedback form.  

© Crown copyright 2026 

The judicial decisions and proceedings, hearings data, registers and lists and information produced for the administration of justice is Crown copyright or Crown database right and is reproduced with the permission of HM Courts and Tribunals Service under delegated authority from The Keeper of Public Records.