Petley v Petley Application to Access Court files

The case before the court involved an application by Mr Petley for access to a divorce file from 1928 involving his grandparents, Ms Laura Julia Casily Petley and Mr John Petley. The application was made under the Senior Courts (Access to Court Documents) Rules 2017, and Mr Petley sought access to the file for personal and professional reasons, including to learn more about his family history and as research for a book on emigration, poverty, family, and social history in the United Kingdom and New Zealand from 1800–1950.

The court was required to decide whether there was good reason to permit access to the file, which was subject to a 100-year access restriction under the Public Records Act 2005. The court considered relevant factors, including the protection of the parties' confidentiality and privacy interests, the freedom of the applicant to seek, receive, and impart information, and the principle of open justice. The court also noted that the file was 94 years old and the parties to the proceeding were no longer alive.

The court determined that the passage of time and the 100–year access restriction significantly lessened any privacy interests in the file, and that the applicant's freedom to seek, receive and impart information, and the principle of open justice favoured disclosure. The court was satisfied there was good reason for allowing Mr Petley access to the files, and the application was allowed accordingly.

The final order of the court was that Mr Petley's application for access to the divorce file from 1928 involving his grandparents, Ms Laura Julia Casily Petley and Mr John Petley, was allowed.