Inspection

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'Inspection' is the stage in the disclosure process during which the parties physically see the documents that have been:

  1. •

    disclosed by the other parties to the litigation (and which they have not objected to your inspecting)

  2. •

    referred to in a party's statement of case, witness statements, witness summaries and affidavits—for further guidance, see Practice Note: Disclosure—inspection—Inspection of documents referred to in statements of case, witness statements

  3. •

    ordered to be specifically disclosed and/or inspected under CPR 31.12—for further information, see: Specific disclosure and specific inspection—overview

As such, this is an important stage in the litigation and one which should be conducted thoroughly and carefully. For general guidance on inspection, see Practice Note: Disclosure: inspection, which provides guidance on:

  1. •

    documents that can be inspected

  2. •

    how to make a written request for inspection under CPR 31.15(a)

  3. •

    the circumstances in which it may not be possible to inspect disclosed documents under CPR 31.3 and CPR 31.19

  4. •

    how to make an application for specific inspection under CPR 31.12

  5. •

    how inspection takes place under CPR 31.15 (considering, among other things, inspection of original documents, copy documents and electronic documents)

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