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  "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.",
  "path": "/government-orders-deletion-of-uks-court-archive/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-11T00:30:13.000Z",
  "site": "https://goodoil.news",
  "tags": [
    "**Will Jones**",
    "has the story",
    "serious failures in the courts system",
    "reading in full",
    "always wants to bury the truth",
    "appalling series",
    "tweeted",
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  "textContent": "**Will Jones**\n _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._\n\nThe 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.\n\n> 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.\n>\n> 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.\n>\n> 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. …\n>\n> 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”.\n>\n> 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.\n>\n> 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.\n>\n> Last week the government issued a final refusal, meaning the archive must now be deleted within days. …\n>\n> 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.\n>\n> “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.”\n\nWorth reading in full.\n\nReacting to the news, _Daily Sceptic_ Associate Editor Laurie Wastell said:\n\n> We know that the British state always wants to bury the truth about the grim realities of multicultural Britain. Now, in the midst of an appalling series 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.\n\n**Stop Press:** US Under Secretary of State Sarah B Rogers has tweeted in opposition to the move: “Transparency is essential to rule of law. Democracies should not order court records purged. This is basic, and obvious.”\n\nThis article was originally published by the Daily Sceptic.",
  "title": "Government Orders Deletion of UK’s Court Archive",
  "updatedAt": "2026-02-11T00:30:13.000Z"
}