Ministry of Justice orders deletion of UK's largest court reporting database

The UK's largest digital court reporting database is being deleted after the Ministry of Justice ordered every record wiped, marking a significant blow to open justice and media access to criminal court proceedings.

Courtsdesk, a platform launched in 2020 following an agreement with HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and approval from the Lord Chancellor and former Justice Minister Chris Philp, had been used by more than 1,500 reporters from 39 media outlets to search magistrates' court lists and registers. The platform was designed to address a critical gap in the justice system: the failure to notify journalists about hearings.

According to Courtsdesk founder Enda Leahy, the company repeatedly found that the media wasn't being told about hearings, with two-thirds of courts regularly hearing cases without notifying journalists. This lack of transparency meant that important cases could go unreported, undermining the principle of open justice that is fundamental to the UK's legal system.

HMCTS issued a cessation notice in November, citing "unauthorised sharing" of court information. The government's position is that Courtsdesk sent information to a third-party AI company, which HMCTS claims violated data protection protocols. An HMCTS spokesperson stated that the press would continue to have full access to court information to support accurate reporting, and that journalists' access to court information has not been affected: listings and records remain available.

However, Leahy disputes this characterization. She told The Times that HMCTS couldn't do what Courtsdesk did, pointing to figures showing the court service's own records were accurate just 4.2% of the time. According to her data, 1.6 million criminal hearings went ahead without any advance notice to the press. "We built the only system that could tell journalists what was actually happening in the criminal courts," she said.

The timing of the shutdown is particularly concerning given the government's recent embrace of AI in the justice system. In August 2025, the government announced plans to transform the courts system with AI-powered tools, aiming to reduce backlogs and boost efficiency. The contradiction between promoting AI solutions while simultaneously shutting down a platform that used AI to improve court transparency has not gone unnoticed.

Courtsdesk made multiple attempts to save the service, writing to government agencies 16 times and requesting that the matter be referred to the Information Commissioner's Office. Former Justice Minister Chris Philp himself approached current courts minister Sarah Sackman asking for the archive not to be deleted. All requests were refused, with the government issuing its final decision last week.

The deletion of Courtsdesk raises serious questions about the future of court reporting in the UK. While the government maintains that journalists will retain access to court information, the platform's founder argues that the existing system is fundamentally broken. If the court service's own records are accurate only 4.2% of the time, as Leahy claims, then the deletion of a more reliable alternative could have significant consequences for media coverage of the criminal justice system.

The case also highlights the tension between data protection concerns and the public's right to information about the justice system. While protecting sensitive data is undoubtedly important, the complete deletion of a platform that improved court transparency suggests that the balance may have tipped too far in favor of data protection at the expense of open justice.

As the platform is deleted within days, the impact on court reporting remains to be seen. What is clear is that the UK has lost a tool that helped ensure criminal court proceedings were reported accurately and comprehensively, potentially leaving significant gaps in public knowledge about how the justice system operates.