Archive Case Records from High Court & House of Lords

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Dear National Archives,

Please would you be able to provide me with copies of all information pertaining to the case files for the following cases heard in the High Court and then on appeal in the House of Lords:

Chesterfield v Harris (1908) 2 ch 397, [High Court Case]

Harris v Chesterfield (1911) AC 623, [upheld on appeal to the House of Lords]

Please note that Luigi Leo, Regional Governance Officer, Deputy Head of Finance at the Royal Courts of Justice Group has stated that you hold this information in response to a FOI request I made to HMCS.

Sincerely,

John

foienquiry, National Archives



Dear John

  

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request to The National Archives
of the United Kingdom, dated 7th February 2013, enquiring about files
relating to two cases which were heard in the High Court Chancery Division
and House of Lords respectively:

 

Chesterfield v Harris (1908)

 

Harris v Chesterfield (1911)

 

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives you two rights of access when
you write to us asking for information. You have the right to know whether
we hold the information that you are looking for, and to have it
communicated to you, subject to any exemptions which may apply.

 

I have spoken to a colleague from our Legal records team who has advised
that the two cases you have referred to in your e-mail enquiry
are for cases heard firstly in the Chancery Division, and then
subsequently by the Court of Appeal.

 

Information about the different types of record we hold for the two courts
is available from our online guidance. For Chancery Division cases, please
click [1]here. For information about records of the Court of Appeal,
please click [2]here. My colleague has suggested a search of pleadings
amongst the records of the Chancery Division would be a good starting
point for your research. There are other records such as decrees and
orders, affidavits, reports and certificates and depositions that can also
be searched for information about the case. In terms of Court of Appeal
records, a search of minute books and order books would be required to
ascertain information about the case. If you can obtain dates for the
hearings and judgements, in addition to the years, this will be very
helpful in carrying out a search of the documents. This information can be
obtained from sources such as The Times law reports, for example.

 

Research amongst our court records will be necessary in order to identify
and locate specific files for the case of Chesterfield v Harris. We can
carry out a search on your behalf, but we make a charge for this service,
and for providing copies of documents if we find the requested
information. This is explained in our [3]Publication scheme. If you would
like to use our paid search service, please reply confirming which of the
records outlined above and in our guidance, you would like to have
searched. Alternatively, you can commission [4]independent researchers to
carry out research for you. If a convenient option, you would be most
welcome to visit The National Archives to undertake research in our
reading rooms at Kew. If you decide to visit The National Archives, please
check our website for important information regarding our [5]opening hours
and closure dates, [6]what to bring and [7]ID requirements. This is
especially important as you will need to look at original documents and
therefore must have the two valid and correct proofs of ID with you.

 

Following leave from the Court of Appeal, the case was referred to the
House of Lords in 1911. Records relating to cases heard by the House of
Lords on appeal are held by the Parliamentary Archives. Here are contact
details for the [8]Parliamentary Archives where you can make enquiries
about their holdings.

 

You can find out more about Freedom of Information on our [9]website.

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request or the decision
which has been reached, you have the right to ask for an internal review.
Internal review requests must be submitted within two months of the date
of this response and should be addressed to:

Quality Manager
Public Services Development Unit
The National Archives
Kew
Richmond
Surrey
TW9 4DU
[10][email address]

Please mark your complaint clearly. You have the right to ask the
Information Commissioner (ICO) to investigate any aspect of your
complaint. However, please note that the ICO is likely to expect internal
complaints procedures to have been exhausted before beginning his
investigation.

I would like to wish you every success with your research.

Yours sincerely

 

Sheila Gopaulen

Advice and Records Knowledge

[11]http://nationalarchives.gov.uk
 
 

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