Licence application process

Last updated on 24th May 2024

Computational Analysis

Records published on the Find Case Law service are available for re-use under the terms of the Open Justice licence. You do not need to apply if your re-use complies with these terms. However if you want to perform computational analysis then you will need to apply for an additional licence.

Computational analysis includes activities such as: any programmatic searching in bulk across the Find Case Law records to identify, extract or enrich contents within the records.

There are no costs to apply for a licence to perform computational analysis.

Assessing applications to perform computational analysis

Licences for computational analysis are assessed based on the activities and re-use you state in your application. The licences we issue will be specific to your re-use.

The licence team at The National Archives will assess your application against the five safes framework, as well as the 9 principles established in 2023 by the Ministry of Justice:

1. Dignity of the court
2. Independence of the court
3. Appropriate scrutiny
4. Anti-discriminatory harm
5. Anti-Bias
6. Personal Privacy
7. Discoverability
8. Algorithmic transparency
9. Accurate data representation

The Licence team will determine whether your re-use is high risk or not. They will use this to decide the type of licence you will receive.

Activities currently considered high risk include:

• Whether you intend to produce fully automated legal advice.
• Whether you intend to perform automation to anticipate legal decisions directly for a client or consumer, such as tools which set expectations for case outcomes through modelling or predictive analytics.
• Whether you intend to directly inform or influence the decision of a third-party regarding whether to pursue justice or legal action.

Context is important when understanding risk. If you have an idea that you think might be high risk, please apply giving as much detail as you can.

Two types of licence

Based on your application there are two main categories for licences we issue to perform computational analysis.

Research and Development

These licences are typically granted for 1 year where the purpose of re-using the data is to gain insight or develop new technologies or practices.

Transactional

These licences are typically granted for up to 5 years. These are for when computational analysis is necessary to deliver a commercial product or service and it is not high risk.

It is important to note that any licence we issue will not be:

• a data sharing agreement for personal data
• a processing agreement for personal data

You should make sure that you comply with all relevant regulations.

Approval process

Once your licence has been assessed by the licence team, your licence application will be reviewed by Discovery board. This is a cross-departmental board at The National Archives. The board meets once a month.

Rarely, applications will need to be reviewed by the Senior Data Governance Panel that meets 4 times a year.

You will be updated on the status of your application. It may be a few weeks until you get a decision on your application.

Publication of approved licences

We keep a record of all applications. If your application is successful, part of your application may be made publicly available in the future. This will support transparency in activities using computational analysis that have been approved under licence.

What you need to apply for a licence

Contact

If you have any questions about licensing, please email the Licensing Department: caselawlicence@nationalarchives.gov.uk.