Practical Law UK Glossary w-016-8769 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Disclosure Pilot Scheme (DPS)
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:
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.