A mandatory (save for limited exceptions) pilot scheme which operated in the Business and Property Courts (B&PCs) under what was Practice Direction (PD) 51U from 1 January 2019 until 1 October 2022.

The Disclosure Pilot Scheme (DPS) was originally scheduled to run for two years from 1 January 2019, but was extended, in an unamended form, until 31 December 2021, by the 122nd Practice Direction (PD) Update. The 133rd PD Update subsequently extended the DPS for a further year, until 31 December 2022.

An announcement dated 15 July 2022 confirmed that that the DPS had been approved and would operate on a permanent basis from 1 October 2022. PD 57AD ("Disclosure in the Business and Property Courts") took effect on 1 October 2022, replacing PD 51U, and implementing, on a permanent basis, the procedures that applied, from 1 January 2019 until 1 October 2022, under the DPS. A number of changes to the scheme were implemented on the same date. For more details, see Legal update, Disclosure Pilot Scheme approved and to become permanent in the B&PCs from 1 October 2022 as PD 57AD.

The disclosure regime in the B&PCs is aimed at achieving a complete culture change in the approach to disclosure in civil litigation, with a focus on ensuring that the time and costs spent on the process are proportionate. Some key points to note include:

The DPS was a "living pilot" which evolved, in response to practitioners' feedback, up until its implementation on a permanent basis under PD 57AD. For details of the changes, see Practice note, Schedule of changes to the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (PD 51U).

For details of our comprehensive content on the approach to disclosure under the DPS (and, subsequently, under PD 57AD), see Disclosure in the B&PCs toolkit.