HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Forensic assessment · v1.1.0 · updated 1 November 2026
Translation pending: the assessment text below is in English, the authoritative record.
- Response status
- Replied, nothing disclosed
- Last contact
- 29 October 2026
- Next date on file
- None on file
- Earlier version
- v1.0.0, published 18 October 2026 on the Legal Wiki
Since last assessment
18 October 2026 to 1 November 2026
Our reading: Since 18 October 2026, 1 emails are on file: 1 sent, 0 received (0 with content, 0 automatic acknowledgements). The response status is unchanged: “Replied, nothing disclosed”. Most material: 29 October 2026, sent, correspondence (no disclosure): Supplement to the 5 August court-records request adds the farm, estate and locality search forms. Nothing here changes the earlier current finding unless stated above; this is a log of contact, not a finding about any person.
- Sentcorrespondence (no disclosure)
Supplement to the 5 August court-records request adds the farm, estate and locality search forms.
The assessment as last published
Carried over unchanged from v1.0.0 (18 October 2026). Links point inside this site.
Chronology and catalogue links — assessed 10-10-2026: Use the Institutional Involvement Roadmap (1877–2026) for the date-ordered institution/people/evidence sequence. The reported 1988 Cadw-to-Minister spot-listing letter has its own catalogue placeholder at GHF-E152; the original has not been attached to that page as at 10-10-2026. A placeholder records an evidence gap; it does not establish the letter’s contents or misconduct.
Forensic Assessment — HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Scope: HMCTS as present court-records administrator/custodian, not as the historic merits decision-maker.
Role
The current HMCTS record-search programme is important because the relevant litigation predates current electronic case management. A search of a modern system cannot by itself establish that a historic paper file never existed.
Forensic control test
Obtain the search scope, central/national archive search, retention schedule, transfer/disposal history and any surviving index for the 1955, 1962, 1974 and 1984–87 proceedings. Record precisely what was searched.
Current finding
As at 10-10-2026, the material reviewed does not establish misconduct by HMCTS. This is not proof that every historic file or records-search issue has been resolved. The active issue is records recovery and a defensible explanation where a file cannot be located.
Human action
Follow the outstanding HMCTS request, seek escalation to historic records/archive staff where necessary, and place every response into the evidence-access chronology. The existing 2 October 2026 extension should be tracked to substantive outcome.
Acceptance: a file-by-file search/retention outcome exists for every requested historical proceeding.
Institutional appearance timeline — linked source index
Coverage rule: this is a chronological navigation map of published Wiki source pages found by searching the current site index for “HM Courts & Tribunals Service”. Every event label links directly to the page containing the source. It avoids duplicating source narratives. It records mention/appearance, not culpability. Dates are transcribed from page titles where available; “Date not explicit in title” means the linked source must be consulted. Search indexing is a discovery aid, not proof of exhaustive external coverage. 🕒10-10-2026
| Date shown by source title | Event / source — open evidence | Record class |
|---|---|---|
| 2 October 2026 | GHF-E106-R02 — HMCTS National Support Unit, extension email for 260904007, 2 October 2026 | Records-access response |
Records-access register appearances — direct row links
Rows below match the institution’s name or an alias in the reply register’s sender/reference or recorded description. A match shows an appearance in the records trail, not necessarily an act by this institution.
| Date | Correspondence / register item (click to open) | Reading rule |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Jun – 9 Sep 2026 | R26 — Ministry of Justice (Disclosure Team and HMCTS National Support Unit). References 260607013, 260702090, 260803049, 260805002, 260813002 . | Register row contains a name/alias match; inspect the linked row to distinguish sender, recipient and incidental mention. |
Related navigation: FOI & Public-Authority Reply Register · Records Access Chronology · Evidence Library
Page version & change log
Current version: 1.0.0
| Version | Date (UTC) | Editor (human or agent name) | Change | Source / evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | 2026-10-18T15:29Z | the editors | Footer standardised; earlier log rows carried into this table; no content change | Editing Protocol, 18 Oct 2026 |
| 2026-10-18 (rollout date; exact time not separately recorded) | OpenAI-assisted maintenance agent (GPT-6) | Installed this page-local append-only change log and agent instructions. Existing page content was not intentionally rewritten. | User-directed site-wide changelog standard. Saved via WordPress API; public rendering of this page not yet independently checked. |
Agents and editors: follow the Editing Protocol.
Case file
This file is built for a future reparations claim. Facts are as the records show them; interpretation is labelled “our reading”. Items marked “not checked” have not been compared with the original record.
(a) Conduct timeline
10 dated interactions, oldest first; 2 automatic acknowledgements are left out. Quotations are verbatim from the institution’s email; where the reply’s substance was an attachment, the email subject is quoted instead.
Show the timeline
| Date | Direction | Reference | Type | Verbatim |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 January 2026 | received | — | correspondence (no disclosure) | Please click on the link below. |
| 1 February 2026 | received | — | correspondence (no disclosure) | Subject: Please update the status of your request - Freedom of Information Request – Administrative Records for BP Properties Ltd v Buckler (1974) |
| 7 June 2026 | sent | — | request | Subject: Subject: FOI - Location & Access to Historical Court Records (Great House Farm, Llandough) |
| 10 June 2026 | sent | — | request | Subject: Request for Access to Historical Court Records – Great House Farm (Ty Mawr), Llandough |
| 30 June 2026 | received | 260607013 | not held | Subject: Buckler - 260607013 - FOI - response |
| 30 June 2026 | sent | 260607013 | request | Subject: Re: Buckler - 260607013 - FOI - response |
| 3 August 2026 | sent | — | request | Subject: Great House Farm, Llandough, Cardiff |
| 5 August 2026 | sent | 260607013 | request | Subject: Freedom of Information Act 2000 Request – Historical Court Records and Administrative Records Relating to William ("Billy") Buckler (1988–1989) |
| 12 August 2026 | received | 260805002 | correspondence (no disclosure) | Subject: the requester - 260805002 - FOIA - response |
| 29 October 2026 | sent | — | correspondence (no disclosure) | Subject: Freedom of Information Act 2000 Request – Historical Court Records and Administrative Records (1988–1989) |
(b) Inconsistencies and gaps
“Not held” answers set against the duty below
- 30 June 2026: “not held” answer (ref 260607013): States the Ministry of Justice does not hold the requested court proceeding records and suggests the County Court as a discretionary pointer.
Missed deadlines
- 3 July 2026: Statutory deadline 3 July 2026 for the request of 7 June 2026: missed (no reply by deadline).
- 3 September 2026: Statutory deadline 3 September 2026 for the request of 5 August 2026 (ref 260607013): missed (no reply by deadline).
(c) Quarantined-name links
Records on the quarantine register (Kissed Frogs) that sit in, or came from, this institution’s holdings. None is treated as settled.
- KF-37 · Evening Express 11 Jan 1908; Barry Dock News 17 Jan 1908 — quarantined: may be a mislabelled Great House Farm (Llandough/Leckwith) record until a physical check.
- KF-39 · Evening Express 12 Oct 1904 p.3 (snippet) — quarantined: may be a mislabelled Great House Farm (Llandough/Leckwith) record until a physical check.
(d) Duty and liability — our reading
Liability indicators (our reading): some
- Duty
- Public Records Act 1958 (court and departmental records; selection, retention, transfer); FOIA 2000 (court records are largely exempt under s.32, which narrows what must be released, not what must be kept).
- Indicators the duty was not met
- missed statutory deadlines; “not held” answers.
- Evidence still needed to confirm
- the institution’s retention schedule and disposal record for the series in question; the catalogue or file list it searched; the original items on the quarantine register; any internal review or complaint outcome.
- Likely extent of exposure if confirmed
- Limited, unless a court record that should have been retained is shown to have been lost or mis-filed.
(e) Evidence still needed
- Inspect the court file or its catalogue entry at the archive holding the court's transferred records. for paid visit list
- View the original of KF-37 (Evening Express 11 Jan 1908; Barry Dock News 17 Jan 1908) and check the place, parties and plan against Great House Farm, Llandough/Leckwith. for paid visit list
- View the original of KF-39 (Evening Express 12 Oct 1904 p.3 (snippet)) and check the place, parties and plan against Great House Farm, Llandough/Leckwith. for paid visit list
- Check, in person, the series that would hold what the 30 June 2026 answer covers. for paid visit list
Versions
| 1.1.0 | 2026-11-01 | Moved to the Forensic Assessments webapp; dated “Since last assessment” section added; response status re-read. |
| 1.0.0 | 2026-10-18 | As published on the Legal Wiki. |