February 16, 2026
Open justice gets Ctrl+Alt+Deleted
Ministry of Justice orders deletion of the UK's largest court reporting database
UK justice hits delete on court archive—journalists cry cover‑up and chaos
TLDR: The Ministry of Justice ordered Courtsdesk, a major court reporting database, to be deleted over alleged data‑sharing with an AI firm, saying journalists still have access. Commenters are split between “cover‑up” outrage and “bureaucracy/privacy” explanations, debating whether court info should be freely public or sealed—making transparency the battleground.
The UK’s biggest court reporting database is being wiped—and the comments are ablaze. Reporters say the Ministry of Justice has hit the big red delete on Courtsdesk, a tool used by 1,500+ journalists to track criminal cases. Officials claim it’s about protecting sensitive data after Courtsdesk sent info to a third‑party AI, insisting the press still has “full access.” The community? Split, loud, and meme‑ready.
The outrage camp calls it a blackout on open justice. One user points to ex‑minister Chris Philp claiming a “cover‑up,” linking his post here. Another shares the founder’s fiery rebuttal and scoffs at the AI excuse—“who doesn’t these days.” Courtsdesk itself says government court records were only 4.2% accurate, and that 1.6 million hearings went ahead with no advance notice to the press. Drama dial: turned to 11.
The skeptics think this smells more like bureaucracy than conspiracy: “this is supposed to be public information, isn’t it?” says one, while another grumbles about robot rules at key archives—yes, robots.txt is getting side‑eye. Meanwhile, a privacy‑minded crowd warns that Courtsdesk was a live stream of court events—“12,000 updates a day”—and not all of that may be public. And the absolutists lay it down: either make it public and free to scrape, or seal it for a set time. The only consensus? Deleting the archive feels like deleting sunlight.
Key Points
- •HM Courts & Tribunals Service ordered the deletion of Courtsdesk, a court reporting archive used by over 1,500 journalists.
- •HMCTS cited “unauthorised sharing” of court information, including sending data to a third-party AI company, as rationale.
- •Courtsdesk launched in 2020 under an agreement with HMCTS and with approval from the Lord Chancellor and then–Justice Minister Chris Philp.
- •Founder Enda Leahy said the company made 16 approaches to government agencies and sought ICO involvement, but the government refused to preserve the archive.
- •HMCTS said journalists still have full access to court information and that listings and records remain available.