Conditions under
which judgments are released in advance
21.3 The opinions of the Law Lords who sat on
the Appellate Committee and the questions to be put to the House
to dispose of the appeal are available to certain persons before
judgment is given. When judgment is given on a Wednesday morning,
these documents are made available to counsel from 10.30 am on
the previous Friday morning. They may be collected from the Judicial
Office. In releasing these documents, the House gives permission
for their contents to be disclosed to counsel, agents (including
solicitors outside London who have appointed London agents) and
in-house legal advisers in a client Government department. The
contents of the documents and the result of the appeal must not
be disclosed to the client parties themselves until judgment is
given in the House.
21.4 It is the duty of counsel to check that
the questions to be put to the House dispose of the appeal in
accordance with the opinions of the members of the Appellate Committee.
In the case of apparent error or ambiguity in the opinions, counsel
are requested to inform the Judicial Office no later than 4pm
on the Monday before judgment.
21.5 Accredited members of the media may also
be given in advance of judgment the Appellate Committee's opinions
and the questions to be put to the House to dispose of the appeal.
The contents of these documents are subject to a strict embargo,
and are not for publication, broadcast or use on club tapes before
judgment has been delivered. The documents are issued in advance
on the strict understanding that no approach is made to any person
or organisation about their contents before judgment is given.
