Court records
How to get court records in different countries
Short answer
- PACER fee
- US$0.10 per page, US$3 cap per document 1
- PACER quarterly waiver
- US$30 or less in a quarter 1
- Find Case Law coverage
- Most courts from the early 2000s 2
- CURIA case list
- Court of Justice and General Court, 1953 to date 3
- Kenya Law case count
- About 300,000 cases from 1930 5
Judgments and case files are not the same thing
A judgment is the court's decision. A case file holds the pleadings, evidence and orders filed by the parties. Many systems publish judgments widely and limit the rest. Under the Civil Procedure Rules in England and Wales, a non-party may obtain a statement of case and a judgment or order given in public without permission 4. Other documents filed by a party need the court's permission 4.
United States: PACER and clerk's offices
PACER gives access to US federal court records 1. It charges US$0.10 per page, up to US$3 per document, and US$2.40 per audio file 1. Fees are waived for users who spend US$30 or less in a quarter, and court opinions are free 1. Transcripts are added 90 days after they are produced 1.
District court clerks charge set fees for work outside PACER. The schedule effective 1 December 2023 lists US$34 per name or item searched and US$0.50 per page for a paper copy 6.
England and Wales: Find Case Law
Find Case Law is run by The National Archives with the Ministry of Justice, HM Courts and Tribunals Service and the Judicial Office 2. Coverage for most courts starts in the early 2000s, and the UK Supreme Court was established in 2009 2. The service says it holds the vast majority of judgments courts have made public in digital form, but many lower court and some tribunal decisions are given orally and never transcribed 2.
Other systems compared
| System | Jurisdiction | What it holds | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| CURIA case-law by number 3 | European Union 3 | Cases before the Court of Justice and General Court from 1953, Civil Service Tribunal 2005 to 2016 3 | Not stated on the page read |
| Kenya Law 5 | Kenya 5 | About 300,000 cases from 1930, updated daily 5 | Not stated on the page read |
| eCourts Services 7 | India 7 | Cause lists, case status, orders and judgments of High Courts and district courts 7 | Not stated on the page read |
| Judiciary of Singapore judgments 8 | Singapore 8 | Written decisions of the Singapore courts and selected case summaries 8 | Not stated on the page read |
Who runs each system
India's eCourts content is owned by the eCommittee of the Supreme Court of India, and its statistics list 39 High Court complexes and 3,720 district and taluka court complexes 7. Kenya Law is a semi-autonomous state corporation that publishes the Kenya Law Reports 9. Its case law page offers judgments from other African and international jurisdictions 5.
Common questions
How much does PACER cost?
US$0.10 per page, capped at US$3 per document. Fees are waived if you spend US$30 or less in a quarter 1.
Can anyone get court documents in England and Wales?
A non-party can get a statement of case and a public judgment or order without permission. Other filed documents need the court's permission 4.
Is Find Case Law complete?
No. It holds most judgments made public in digital form, but many oral decisions were never transcribed 2.
Where are EU court judgments?
On CURIA, which lists cases before the Court of Justice and the General Court from 1953 3.
Rules and charges change. Check the official source linked on this page before you pay or travel. Spotted an error? Email hello@documentlocker.org.
Sources
- PACER: PACER Pricing: How fees work
- The National Archives: About this service, Find Case Law
- Court of Justice of the European Union: Access to the case-law by case number
- Ministry of Justice: Civil Procedure Rules, Part 5, Court Documents
- Kenya Law: Case Law
- United States Courts: District Court Miscellaneous Fee Schedule (effective 1 December 2023)
- eCommittee, Supreme Court of India: Homepage, eCourts Single Sign-On
- Judiciary of Singapore: Judgments
- Kenya Law: About
Related
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- Where primary documents live and how to get them
Where official laws, gazette notices, court judgments and company filings are published, in the US, UK, EU, India, Kenya and other jurisdictions.
- How to cite a primary document
How to cite laws, gazette notices, judgments and company filings so a reader can find the exact version: identifiers, versions, dates and official URLs.
- Freedom of information and access to information laws compared
Who can ask, how long the body has to answer and what it costs under FOI laws in the US, UK, EU, India, Kenya, Canada and South Africa.