Civil Procedure - Dring V Cape Distribution

Non-party entitled to access to documents filed at court in order to investigate whether asbestos-related claim can be brought

The background to this application can be found in Weekly Updates 14/12, 18/16, 26/16 and 30/17 (Chandler v Cape Plc and Cape Distribution v Cape International). A parent company was held to owe a direct duty of care to an employee of its subsidiary who contracted asbestosis. That decision was based in part on the fact that the group's medical adviser had carried out research and become an international authority on asbestos-related diseases. The subsidiary's employers' liability insurer had then sought to bring a subrogated claim against the parent company.

The applicant in this case is a non-profit unincorporated association representing 12 asbestos victims' support groups in the UK. It seeks to obtain copies of documents filed by the parties in the litigation described above.

CPR r5.4C allows non-parties to obtain certain documents...