In most disputes, it is obvious who the defendant and claimant are. However, this is not always the case. In some cases, a claimant cannot identify the actual defendant until they inspect documents that a third party holds. In this instance, a Norwich Pharmacal order can compel a person who is not a party to a dispute to disclose certain information. This article explains what a Norwich Pharmacal Order is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Norwich Pharmacal order is the phrase commonly used to describe a court order compelling the disclosure and inspection of a non-party to a dispute before proceedings commence. The purpose of a Norwich Pharmacal order is to permit a claimant\u2019s access to information that a third party holds to reveal the identity of the rightful defendant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suppose you come across a social media platform that hosts anonymous user content, including unlawfully reproduced your business\u2019 intellectual property of your business. The social media platform refuses to release information about the user, such as its IP information, citing GDPR rules. If you decide to enforce your IP rights against the user, a Norwich Pharamacal order can compel the social media platform to disclose the identity of the user.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
As you can see from the above example, the claimant knows that someone has done a civil wrong somewhere out there. However, the issue is that the claimant does not have adequate information to determine who the wrongdoer is. A Norwich Pharmacal order allows claimants to ascertain who the defendant is to pursue a claim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The claimant (or the applicant) must apply to the court using the appropriate application procedure. The respondent is the third party that, if the application is successful, must deliver the documents to the claimant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The court will assess the application to see if it fulfils the following criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n