Civil Justice Quarterly have published an article by Sara Cockerill QC – “Individual Documents Separately Described – Is the end of the Subpoena Test in Sight?” CJQ (2015) 34 pp366-376.
The article examines the current status of the subpoena rules for compelling documents, outlining the nature and history of the principles and the areas where they remain applicable post CPR. It examines three different sets of developments: (i) those areas where judicial intervention in the English Courts has eroded the principles in cases in fields including arbitration, ancillary relief and financial services regulation, (ii) the developments under the notionally identical jurisdiction under EU Regulation 1206/2001 and (iii) the emerging jurisprudence under the new jurisdiction for non-party disclosure under CPR 31.17. From this perspective it then considers the effect which those developments are may be expected to have on the subpoena principles in the near future and the possibility of an abandonment of the long held subpoena principles.
