home page

How to access a hearing

1. Check what hearings are listed.

2. Pick one you want to observe. In choosing a hearing you may want to consider (obviously) what time it is listed for, but also whether it is remote (i.e. video-platform or phone – phone can be difficult and many people find hearings on video-platforms much easier to follow) or whether you need to go along to the court to observe. You may also want to consider what the issues are to be addressed (this information is not always provided and can be inaccurate). Also consider the estimated length of the hearing – most are an hour but some can be much longer (and again we don’t always have this information). Note: Quite a lot of hearings are vacated or adjourned (i.e. they don’t happen) so it’s wise to have a second choice hearing as a ‘back up’ plan, i.e. one an hour or so later that you can ask to observe if you don’t get your first choice. If there isn’t one listed on this page, pick one from our Twitter feed).

3. If the hearing is ‘in person’ (some are only ‘in person’ and there is no video link) you can just go along. There’s no requirement to contact the court in advance – but we recommend that you send an email or call them to check that the hearing is going ahead. If you want to attend a hearing remotely, you need to send an email to the address given. Put the words “Observer Request” in the subject header along with the Case Number (copy and paste it to avoid errors) + the name of the judge.

Here’s a template letter you can send

“Dear Court Staff,

Please may I have the link to observe Case No. xxxx before Judge Y, at [time] on [date]. My reason for wanting to observe is to support the judicial aspiration for open justice and transparency in the Court of Protection.

I confirm that you have my permission to share my email address with representatives of the parties for the purposes of being sent the transparency order and position statements.

Please could you also alert the parties to my request for all the Position Statements relating to this hearing.  This is so that I can follow the hearing and to support accurate understanding and reporting of it. The court may be aware that there is new case law relating to provision of Position Statements to observers.  For guidance from Poole J see §36(1)-(10) in AB, Re (Disclosure of Position Statements) [2025] EWCOP 25 (T3) (15 July 2025).

In the event that the Official Solicitor wishes to respond to my request with their standard template refusal to disclose (or in the event that any other party declines to disclose) their Position Statement, please could the judge be alerted to this (ideally before the start of the hearing), and advised of my application for a direction that the parties disclose their Position Statements.

Thank you for your support of open justice and transparency in the Court of Protection.”

Make sure that you’ve included your full name at the bottom of the email.

4. They will send you a video-link (or phone you if it’s a phone hearing). (Sometimes we get no response to these requests. That’s why you might want a back-up plan!). Video hearings are either via MS Teams or Cloud Video Platform (CVP) (for info about how to use CVP, click here). (NB If you join CVP as an “observer” (which does seem the obvious thing to do!), you will not be able to switch your camera or your mike on, so the court won’t be able to see or hear you. This is fine, unless the judge asks you to confirm that you speak – e.g. to say you’ve read the Transparency Order. We’ve had cases where people haven’t been able to confirm this audibly to the court, so have been ejected from the hearing. We tend to join with video and audio ON and switch them off manually.)

5. Allow yourself plenty of time to get to the hearing. If you’re attending ‘in person’ you will need to allow time to get through airport-style security and find the courtroom. If you’re attending remotely, we recommend joining about 10mins before the listed start time, because you may find you have connection problems. You should join hearings with your mic and camera off – only turn them on if the court staff or judge asks you to do so.

6. We’re often asked “will I be expected to say anything in court?”. Mostly, no. But sometimes before the beginning of the hearing, court staff are trying to make sure they have everyone they need in the hearing and they may ask who you are (just say “I’m a public observer”). At an ‘in person’ hearing you are usually asked, by court staff, to fill in a form (before the hearing begins) with your name and address – this doesn’t happen with remote hearings because they already have your name email address. You may be asked to turn on your mic to confirm to the court staff that you are able to hear the proceedings. Occasionally, the judge asks observers to confirm that we’ve received and understood the reporting restrictions order (or transparency order): often we’ve not been sent it, so that’s quite useful and if we say ‘no’ the judge directs someone to send it!

You can find our project Policy and Supporting Guidance for Bloggers on the About the Project page.