Planning

prj_16023 - HMCTS Third Party Courts Data Licence

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

18 Feb 2026 at 17:15

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

18 Feb 2026 at 16:52

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

18 Feb 2026 at 16:50

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

18 Feb 2026 at 16:48

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

18 Feb 2026 at 15:41

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Justice, a central government public authority located in London, is initiating a tender process titled "HMCTS Third Party Courts Data Licence" under the services category, specifically data services. This procurement is at the planning stage, and the key upcoming event is a virtual market engagement session scheduled for 4th March 2026 via MS Teams, from 10:00 to 11:30 UK time. The purpose is to engage potential applicants for a non-exclusive data licence, facilitating computational analysis of courts and tribunals data by successful applicants. Interested parties must express interest and view the engagement details through the MoJ Sourcing Portal. The planned engagement concludes with the submission of a questionnaire by 11th March 2026.

This tender represents a significant opportunity for various organisations such as journalists, lawtech firms, legal publishers, research institutes, and compliance or data analytics companies to tap into detailed courts and tribunals data. The initiative aims to further open justice and transparency by granting access to hearing lists and outcome registers. Businesses well-suited to this process are those with capabilities in data services, computational analysis, and legal publishing. SMEs and VCSEs are encouraged to apply, highlighting a dedicated approach to inclusivity and diversity in sourcing potential partners for growth in data-driven legal technology solutions.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

prj_16023 - HMCTS Third Party Courts Data Licence

Notice Description

The principle of open justice is crucial. His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is committed to supporting greater transparency of courts and tribunals data. We are seeking to engage with potential applicants for the new courts and tribunals non-exclusive third party data licence which will grant successful licence applicants permission to undertake computational analysis of information published by the Court and Tribunal Hearings Service (CaTH) (https://www.court-tribunal-hearings.service.gov.uk/). The information available under this licence will in time encompass all hearing lists for all courts and tribunals administered by HMCTS and registers of outcomes from the criminal courts. Other information may be made available in the future. The information will be available to successful licence applicants in a standard, machine-readable form through CaTH's application programming interface (API). The purpose of this market engagement is to understand the views of potential applicants for the licence on topics including: 1. Other information that HMCTS should seek to prioritise and publish via CaTH; 2. The implications of HMCTS's proposed retention terms for data provided under the licence; 3. Potential data re-use purposes 4. Restrictions on the use of the data 5. Security measures that licensees will have to have in place 6. Restrictions on where globally data can be processed We are interested in hearing from a range of organisations and individuals, including, but not limited to: journalists and the accredited news media; lawtech firms and legal publishers; research institutes and compliance or data analytics firms. The findings from this market engagement will help to inform the development of the licence and its payment model. This session will not cover the detail of the application process for a licence. We are aiming to share this detail in April 2026. Event Details HMCTS invites interested organisations to attend a virtual market engagement event on 04th March 2026 which will be delivered via MS Teams and take place 10:00 - 11:30 (UK). Agenda: - Introduction and purpose of the market engagement - An overview of the licence - What data would be shared under the licence and onwards re-use - Implications of proposed retention terms - Pricing Model - Next steps for further engagement Key questions to explore: - For what purpose would you seek to computationally re-use courts and tribunals listing and registers of outcomes data? - What functionality/capability/information would you like from the CaTH service beyond what is currently available? - What barriers (barring exemptions under data protection law) would HMCTS's proposed retention terms place in being able to perform computational analysis for your proposed use case? - Would HMCTS's proposed and future pricing model place unreasonable barriers that would prevent you/your organisation being able to reasonably afford a licence? Interested parties are required to complete the following actions: 1. Register for an account through the MoJ Sourcing Portal at https://ministryofjusticecommercial.bravosolution.co.uk 2. Navigate to the left side menu and click on 'PQQs Open to All Suppliers' > find and click on 'PQQ_567 - HMCTS Third Party Courts Data Licence - Market Engagement' - for the avoidance of doubt this is not an actual PQQ but just a space on our sourcing system to coordinate market engagement activities. There are no mandatory actions to take. 3. Interested parties must express an interest by clicking 'Express interest' and will then be able to view the detail relating to market engagement in the 'My Response' tab. The event will be recorded and made available for the duration of the engagement activity. Legal disclaimer: this recording is for private, authorised viewing only and may not be redistributed. The session will have the opportunity for Q&A on submission, with questions answered following the session in writing, these will be published in the attachments tab on the MoJ Sourcing Portal. Following the event, HMCTS will distribute a questionnaire to attendees to gain further information and insight to the topics covered in the session. The 'PQQ_567 - HMCTS Third Party Courts Data Licence - Market Engagement' area will be the forum used to communicate future events or communications in relation to the market engagement activity. The Engagement deadline in this notice reflects the closing date for questionnaire submission by Suppliers following the session. Contract dates and transparency notice details are not reflective of licence dates.

Planning Information

Market engagement will be undertaken in a phased approach. Full instructions can be found in the body of the notice.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-065756
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014988-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72300000 - Data services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
18 Feb 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
30 Apr 20263 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
30 Apr 2026 - 1 May 2026 24 hours
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
hmctscommercial@justice.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Post Town
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts. 

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