UKSC & JCPC reveal more details on how to file Applications with their new Case Management Portal

In October, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) announced two major upcoming improvements to how Court users will interact with us.

The first of these is a brand-new user-focused Case Management Portal, which will digitise and streamline the way that Permission to Appeals (PTAs) and other legal applications are registered and progressed with the UKSC and JCPC.

The second is the introduction of two new websites for the UKSC and JCPC, which as well as replacing the current sites with a fresh and updated design, will also interact with the Case Management Portal enabling faster updates to information about cases. In addition, there will be new Rules and Practice Directions.

As the Court heads towards the introduction of these exciting new features later this year, we are providing more information and guidance about how our present and future users will benefit from the systems.

The Court has gone through extensive user research to understand the needs of our users across both jurisdictions, taking into account the differences between professional users and self-represented parties who bring cases to the courts, and academics, the media, the wider legal communities and students who follow cases at both Courts. We have also undertaken extensive user testing of both the Case Management Portal and the websites to ensure they work intuitively for our users.

More detailed information about the new portal and websites will be available closer to December.

The following improvements will enable all users of the Case Management Portal to get the best from the new digital system when it launches:

Payment will be made via the Portal either by confirming that an electronic bank transfer has already been made, or by paying with a credit or debit card. An Application for Help With Fees can also be made via the Portal, but this must be done before the application can be finalised and filed.
The initial filing (usually a PTA or Notice of Appeal) will be filed in the Portal, but not served until it has been checked and issued by the Registry.
Users will then be informed that the case is ready to be served (this will be confirmed off-Portal, the only time this is done, and will be known as 'first service') and then come back in to the Portal to confirm that service has been effected on the Respondent(s), and by which method.
Following that, the Respondent(s) will be invited to become a Portal Party and from then on, all service will be electronic in nature, via the Portal.

To get the most from the new Portal, users should familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions when first signing up to the Portal, and note especially that the Statement of Facts and Issues (SFI) and Written Cases will routinely be published on the case page on the relevant website, usually about a week before the appeal hearing. This will enable greater transparency and accessibility for all Court users.

Once the new Case Management Portal comes online, it will be mandatory for professional users to file their cases via the Portal and, as far as possible, for self-represented parties to do so too (but we will offer additional help to do so where required). Guidance will be made available for self-represented parties on what the role of the UKSC and JCPC is and is not able to assist with, to aid them on their legal journey and there will be a designated 'Eligibility Checker' pathway for self-represented parties. All language on the Case Management Portal has been checked to ensure it is as accessible as possible, including for those who are not legally trained.

We will be offering support to all first-time users of the Portal, but we do encourage professional users to read the relevant Rules, Practice Directions and other available guidance and training before approaching the Registry with questions that will be answered there. Two webinars for UKSC and JCPC users are already available online, and further instructional videos will be made available.

It is important to note that any case that is filed before the introduction of the Case Management Portal will be subject to the previous Rules and Practice Directions and we will be running these two systems concurrently for as long as it takes to complete these older cases. Email will still be the main way of corresponding with the Courts on these older cases, but cases on the Case Management Portal will be managed exclusively on the Portal and not via emails.

The new improvements are a central part of the UKSC and JCPC three-year Change Programme, and they have been designed with our users at their heart, making the UKSC and JCPC more accessible and open. We are excited about this next stage of our history, and look forward to hearing the views and experiences of our users when the new Portal and websites go live.