(1) On payment of the prescribed fee, any person is entitled, during office hours, to inspect and take a copy of any of the following documents filed in the court office, namely —
(a) a claim form, notice of application made under rule 8.1(6) or a statement of case, but not any documents filed with or attached to the statement of case;
(b) a notice of appeal;
(c) a judgment or order given or made in court; and
(d) with the leave of the Court, which may be granted on an application made without notice, any other document.
(2) Where a person who is not a -party wishes to search for, inspect and take a copy of any document filed before this rule came into force, paragraph (1) above does not apply and the rules of court relating to access that were in force prior to the date upon which this amendment came into force shall apply as if they had not been revoked.
(3) Nothing in paragraph (1) prevents a party in any proceedings from —
(a) searching for, inspecting and taking a copy of any affidavit or other document filed in the court office in those proceedings or filed before the commencement of those proceedings but with a view to its commencement; and
(b) obtaining any applicable E-Litigation Portal authorisation code from the court.
(4) Any document filed or in the custody of a court office must not be taken out of the court office without leave of the court unless the document is to be sent to another court office or to a magistrate's court.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), no document shall be made available for inspection —
(a) in proceedings relating to the welfare of a minor, a patient or any other person for whose benefit an order has been made to protect them or their identity;
(b) where the document is a settlement agreement;
(c) where the document is protected by statute from disclosure or inspection; or
(d) where an application has been filed under paragraph (6), pending the determination of that application in respect of documents which are the subject of that application.
(6) The Court may on the application of a party or of a person identified in a statement of case —
(a) order that a person who is not a party may not inspect a court file under paragraph (1);
(b) restrict the persons or classes of persons that may inspect the court file;
(c) order that a person or classes of persons may only inspect documents under paragraph (1) that have been edited in accordance with the directions of the court; or
(d) make such other order as it thinks fit.