With little publicity, on 1 October Civil Procedure Rule (CPR) practice direction 31 (Disclosure) was amended and a revised version of the standard list of documents (Form N265) was introduced.
While practitioners have grown used to minor changes to practice directions (PDs) and court forms, the changes brought about by PD31 and to Form N265 are significant. Form N265 now includes a revised dis-closure statement that requires a party to explain in some detail what searches for electronic documents it has undertaken, or give reasons for its failure to do so.
