An emergency gagging order obtained by the legal sector's top professional body against new rules providing greater public access to old court documents was today extended by the High Court for another 28 days.

The Law Society obtained an injunction against the new rules, set by the Department of Constitutional Affairs in an effort to make the court system more open and transparent, on Friday, two days before they were due to be introduced.

Previously, most details of court actions had been kept confidential to anyone not involved in the dispute, but under the new rules the public and media would be granted access to any statement of case filed at a court in England and Wales.

The Society had fiercely opposed the changes, claiming they are unfair because they allow access to documents that were compiled on the understanding that they would remain private.

Mr Justice Keith today extended the injunction until November 2 in order to give the parties time to settle the dispute. If the Society and the DCA cannot come to an agreement before then, the court will decide at a hearing on that day.

The judge said that all documents filed before October 2 will be subject to the old rules where people had to apply to a judge for permission to inspect the documents. Court papers filed on or after that date, except for those in which an exemption has been granted, will be available.

The DCA indicated during the hearing that it was confident the matter would be resolved without the need for a further court hearing.

According to Chris Warren-Smith, a partner at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, the DCA’s comments suggest that it is prepared to abolish the retrospective aspect of the new rules.

The Law Society said that although the DCA had agreed to re-examine the rules, there was no guarantee they would amend them.

The DCA confirmed that it would re-consider the issue but declined to comment further.

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