england-and-wales legal-research
Where can I find skeleton arguments for claims in England &amp; Wales, preferably online and for free?
<p>I ask NOT about court opinions. <a href="https://www.supremecourt.uk/faqs.html#5i" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The UKSC doesn't publish them</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Can I get a copy of a party's 'skeleton argument' or case?</strong></p>
<p>The UKSC does not publish parties' cases. [...].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet Gina Miller <a href="https://twitter.com/thatginamiller/status/1169594786170507271?s=20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">tweeted</a> to   her skeleton argument for her Claim No: CO/3385/2019 at the QBD, on <a href="https://www.mishcon.com/news/r-gina-miller-v-prime-minister-skeleton-argument" rel="nofollow noreferrer">her solicitor's website</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&amp;q=%22SKELETON+ARGUMENT+OF+THE+SECRETARY+OF+STATE%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Googling &quot;Skeleton Argument of the Secretary of State&quot;</a> yields just 27 results,  e.g.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=11&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjFn4fDm8PlAhUNmuAKHabjBf8QFjAKegQIEBAC&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cumbria.gov.uk%2FeLibrary%2FContent%2FInternet%2F538%2F755%2F3145%2F43392104733.pdf&amp;usg=AOvVaw1FcVttQRsxdYUVxoQ1Lgma" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Warcop Public Inquiry</a>.</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skeleton-argument-of-the-secretary-of-state-for-exiting-the-european-union" rel="nofollow noreferrer">government's skeleton argument in the Article 50 case in England and Wales</a>, CO/1306/2016) at QBD.</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=3&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjFn4fDm8PlAhUNmuAKHabjBf8QFjACegQIGxAC&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justsecurity.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F10%2F2017-02-03.defendant-skeleton-1recklessness.pdf&amp;usg=AOvVaw07QD_GKTNeqesFoCwPPCIn" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Secretary of State's Open Skeleton Argument</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=30&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjFn4fDm8PlAhUNmuAKHabjBf8QFjAdegQIGRAC&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.caat.org.uk%2Fresources%2Fcountries%2Fsaudi-arabia%2Flegal-2016%2F2016-06-29.defendant-skeleton.pdf&amp;usg=AOvVaw3xXQs_9qW1YL3QO4obYVmm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Secretary of State's Skeleton Argument for permission renewal application</a>, <em>R (on the application of Campaign Against Arms Trade) v The Secretary of State for International Trade and Intervenors</em> [2017] EWHC 1726.</p>
</li>
</ul>

<p>A <em>submission</em> is simply the name for that part of one side's case which is submitted to the court but is not evidence, whether that is 'I suggest there is no case to answer' or a day-long oration. As such, they are not normally written documents, and so are only generally available by obtaining a transcript of the whole day's proceedings . Even if this is possible (not all cases are automatically recorded) there is certainly a charge for it.</p>

<p>There are exceptions, of course: the Supreme Court, less bound by tradition since it was created only recently, prefers to read advocates' speeches rather than listen to them. And advocates do in practice often write out their speeches, so a particular submission might be obtainable by suitable flattery of the advocate (or more likely his clerk/secretary). But in general, the answer is "you can't".</p>

<p>Court filings are documents filed to court for cases, a skeleton argument is one of these documents. </p>

<p>Documents relating to a case forms its case "docket".</p>

<p>While case judgments are usually easy to access, and for free, it is not the same for case dockets.</p>

<p>In the US, there is a public service called PACER, which is a database that allows members of the public to retrieve case dockets and therefore filings from a case.</p>

<p>In the UK, the equivalent would be the E-Filing system:
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ce-file-system-information-and-support-advice" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ce-file-system-information-and-support-advice</a></p>

<p>The E filing system is used by many courts, but it is NOT used by every court in tue UK, notably the court of appeals have yet to implement it, and are on track to adopt it by 2025 if I recall correctly.</p>

<p>Check the link to see information about how to search for case dockets as a public user, and see the case you are looking for can be found.</p>

<p><strong>It depends on the type of case and the court/tribunal</strong></p>
<p>The idea of a skeleton argument is that it saves time for the court or tribunal, and helps the barristers present their case effectively and efficiently, if they supply to the court/tribunal and to each other, a week (say) before the hearing a bare written &quot;skeleton&quot; of the arguments they intend to advance. They then put flesh on the bones, to continue the metaphor, when making oral arguments.</p>
<p>In a trial - when evidence is being produced and tested - the barristers' skeleton arguments may be <em>very</em> skeletal because the arguments advanced at the end of the trial depend on the evidence so it is only very high level points which would be in a skeleton.</p>
<p>When it comes to appeals, however, skeletons are typically longer because all the facts and evidence is known and so the arguments to be advanced can be more precisely formulated.</p>
<p>Many courts in England and Wales require skeleton arguments to be filed at the same time as the Notice of Appeal so, in that case, they may be filed many months before the hearing and sometimes a supplementary skeleton argument is provided by one or both barristers a week or so before the hearing.</p>
<p>The skeleton argument filed with the Notice of Appeal is part of the court file and should be available to anyone who asks for a copy (and pays the standard fee) at the court office. Some courts require barristers to bring to the hearing additional copies of main and any supplementary skeleton arguments to be given to court reporters and accredited journalists. For example the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part52/practice-direction-52c-appeals-to-the-court-of-appeal" rel="nofollow noreferrer">practice direction for the Court of Appeal</a> states</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Documents to be provided to court reporters at the hearing of an
appeal</p>
<p>33(1) Where a party is legally represented at the hearing of an appeal,
the legal representative must bring to the hearing two additional
copies of the party’s skeleton argument (including any supplementary
skeleton argument) for provision to accredited law reporters and
accredited media reporters in accordance with the following provisions
of this paragraph.</p>
<p>(2) In appeals in family proceedings involving a child, the copies of
the skeleton argument must be in anonymised form and must omit any
detail that might, if reported, lead to the identification of the
child.</p>
<p>(3) The additional copies must be supplied before the commencement of
the hearing to the usher or other court official present in court.</p>
<p>(4) The usher or other court official to whom the copies are supplied
must provide one copy to an accredited law reporter (upon production
of their Royal Courts of Justice security pass) and one copy to an
accredited media reporter (upon production of their press pass), if so
requested by them. Those copies are to be provided only for the
purpose of reporting the court proceedings and on the basis that the
recipients may remove them from the court and make further copies of
them for distribution to other accredited reporters in court, again
only for the purpose of reporting the court proceedings.</p>
<p>(5) Any party may apply orally to the court at the commencement of the
hearing for a direction lifting or varying the obligations imposed by
sub-paragraphs (3) and (4). Where a party intends to make such an
application or is notified by another party of the intention to make
one, the operation of those sub-paragraphs is suspended pending the
ruling of the court.</p>
<p>(6) In deciding whether to make a direction under sub-paragraph (5),
the court must take into account all the circumstances of the case and
have regard in particular to—</p>
<p>(a) the interests of justice;</p>
<p>(b) the public interest;</p>
<p>(c) the protection of the interests of any child, vulnerable adult or
protected party;</p>
<p>(d) the protection of the identity of any person intended to be
protected by an order or direction relating to anonymity; and</p>
<p>(e) the nature of any private or confidential information (including
information relating to personal financial matters) in the document.</p>
<p>A direction may permit a skeleton argument to be supplied in redacted
or anonymised form.</p>
<p>(7) For the purposes of this paragraph, “the hearing of an appeal”
includes a hearing listed as an application for permission to appeal
with the appeal to follow immediately if permission is granted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you buy a copy of a report of a case - for example from the <a href="https://www.iclr.co.uk/about/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ICLR</a> - it contains not only the court/tribunal judgment itself (which is also available free from the court website) but also the arguments advanced by each side. These arguments are summarised from the skeleton arguments and oral arguments so this is an indirect way of finding out at least the gist of the skeleton arguments in the case.</p>
