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# Government Orders Deletion of UK’s Court Archive
- URL: https://goodoil.news/government-orders-deletion-of-uks-court-archive/
- Published: 2026-02-11T00:30:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-02-11T00:30:12.000Z
- Description: There are concerns that the government is fleeing from transparency over failings in the justice system amid a string of murders and sex attacks by asylum seekers.
- Author: Reproduced with permission
- Tags: UK Politics, Crime, Censorship

[**Will Jones**](https://dailysceptic.org/2026/02/09/government-orders-deletion-of-uks-largest-court-reporting-archive/?ref=goodoil.news)  
*Dr Will Jones is editor of the Daily Sceptic. He has a PhD in political philosophy, an MA in ethics, a BSc in mathematics and a diploma in theology. He lives in Leamington Spa with his wife and two children.*

The Ministry of Justice is ordering the deletion of a large archive of court records, raising concerns that the government is fleeing from transparency over failings in the justice system amid a string of murders and sex attacks by asylum seekers. The *Times* [has the story](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/moj-orders-deletion-of-uks-largest-court-reporting-archive-27f5zcbb7?ref=goodoil.news).

> Courtsdesk, a data analysis company that supports media and campaigners in monitoring court records, has been ordered by the Government to delete its archive, which provides a crucial tool for journalists covering the justice system.  
>  
> The project was approved by the Lord Chancellor in 2021 to explore how a “national digital news feed of listings and registers can improve coverage of the courts by the news media” by opening up magistrate court records.  
>  
> According to Courtsdesk, the platform has since been used by more than 1,500 journalists from 39 media organisations and the data provided have highlighted [serious failures in the courts system](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/rise-in-adjournment-of-trials-over-disclosure-failures-722vgmksp?gaa%5Fat=eafs&gaa%5Fn=AWEtsqdtBpX%5F1Ixz1KWFUMzoG-Kj6kw6F2MkEocU%5FHMkvorq1thVyJG2qSXHwoJhc4E%3D&gaa%5Fts=6988b806&gaa%5Fsig=4GXwiHEz8p-iBGmz7jGsROi5qQb76Xtn5Z-Nj5zbO5GDz87Mf8gyNwU54drTHvy%5FwJz2InqxGYCouSZrP7swHQ%3D%3D&ref=goodoil.news). …  
>  
> In November, HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) issued the company a cessation notice, citing what it called “unauthorised sharing” of court data, on the basis of a test feature, claiming this was a “data protection issue”.  
>  
> When the company wrote to the department asking for the matter to be referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which regulates data protection, it says no referral was made.  
>  
> Chris Philp, the former justice minister who approved the pilot and now Shadow Home Secretary, wrote to Sarah Sackman, the Courts Minister, demanding the decision be reversed.  
>  
> Last week the government issued a final refusal, meaning the archive must now be deleted within days. …  
>  
> Enda Leahy, the Courtsdesk chief executive and a former legal affairs correspondent at the *Sunday Times*, said: “We built the only system that could tell journalists what was actually happening in the criminal courts.  
>  
> “HMCTS’s own data proves they can’t do it – their records were accurate 4.2 per cent of the time, 1.6 million cases were heard without any advance notice to the press.”

Worth [reading in full](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/moj-orders-deletion-of-uks-largest-court-reporting-archive-27f5zcbb7?ref=goodoil.news).

Reacting to the news, *Daily Sceptic* Associate Editor Laurie Wastell said:

> We know that the British state [always wants to bury the truth](https://spectator.com/article/the-public-keep-being-kept-in-the-dark-about-asylum-crime/?ref=goodoil.news) about the grim realities of multicultural Britain. Now, in the midst of an [appalling series](https://dailysceptic.org/2025/11/28/reuters-tries-to-fact-check-away-the-appalling-scourge-of-afghan-sex-attacks/?ref=goodoil.news) of murders and sex attacks by asylum seekers, the Ministry of Justice is ordering a major court-reporting platform relied on by journalists to delete much of its data. This stinks of yet another coverup.

**Stop Press:** US Under Secretary of State Sarah B Rogers has [tweeted](https://x.com/undersecpd/status/2020885594180563324?s=46&ref=goodoil.news) in opposition to the move: “Transparency is essential to rule of law. Democracies should not order court records purged. This is basic, and obvious.”

This article was originally published by [the Daily Sceptic](https://dailysceptic.org/2026/02/09/government-orders-deletion-of-uks-largest-court-reporting-archive/?ref=goodoil.news).