For PI & clinical negligence fee-earners · ~5 min read · quotes from CPR Part 31
Standard disclosure, in the rule's own words
CPR rule 31.6 defines what standard disclosure actually covers:
"Standard disclosure requires a party to disclose only – (a) the documents on which he relies; and (b) the documents which – (i) adversely affect his own case; (ii) adversely affect another party's case; or (iii) support another party's case."
CPR Part 31, rule 31.6
For a claimant, that includes the medical records supporting the injury and causation case — but it can also mean disclosing records that don't help, if they meet the "adversely affect" test. Selective disclosure isn't compliance.
The duty of search
Rule 31.7 requires a "reasonable search" for relevant documents, with reasonableness judged against factors including the number of documents, the complexity of the proceedings, the ease and expense of retrieval, and the significance of documents likely to be found. On a clinical negligence file with records from multiple hospitals and GP practices over years, that search has real teeth — an incomplete GP history because "someone forgot to request it" is not a defensible reasonable search.
The rule most people skim past: "convenient order and manner"
CPR rule 31.10, which governs the procedure for standard disclosure, states:
"The list must identify the documents in a convenient order and manner and as concisely as possible."
CPR Part 31, rule 31.10
The rule doesn't prescribe a specific format — no mandated column headings, no required software. But a list of several hundred medical record pages presented in the order they happened to be received, with no grouping by provider or record type, is hard to square with "convenient order and manner." In practice, organising by institution and record type — the same structure an indexed, paginated bundle already needs — is what makes a disclosure list actually usable by the other side, and defensible if challenged.
How this fits with the earlier-stage Protocol rules
This isn't a one-off requirement. Depending on the claim, records may already have been placed in an indexed, paginated bundle at the pre-action stage (mandatory in clinical negligence, good practice in personal injury), then need to satisfy CPR r.31.10's "convenient order" at disclosure, and finally meet CPR Practice Direction 32's continuous-pagination requirement if the matter reaches trial. Three different rules, at three different stages — all pointing the same direction: keep the records organised from the moment they arrive, not as a scramble each time a new stage is reached.
How Med-Legal handles it. Records are grouped by institution and record type automatically, with a hyperlinked index and continuous pagination built in from the first upload — so the same organised set carries through pre-action, disclosure and trial without re-doing the work at each stage.
Quotations are from CPR Part 31 as published on justice.gov.uk; check the current text directly for any matter where precise compliance matters. General information for legal professionals, not legal advice.