Crown Court Digital Case System Guidance: register and access case material
Use the Crown Court Digital Case System to access, prepare, and present case information.
Applies to England and Wales
About the Crown Court Digital Case System
The Digital Case System (DCS) is used to manage, prepare and present information on cases in the Crown court.
DCS is used by HMCTS, the judiciary and professional court users, including defence solicitors and barristers.
With DCS you can share information with court staff, the judge and the prosecution or defence, and collaborate on documents and the bundle.
Register for an account
You must register for an account before any hearings you attend where DCS is used. You must be a legal professional working in the Crown court to use DCS. You must also have a cjsm account to register.
You will need to create a password that is at least 7 characters and contains an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter and a number.
Once you have filled in all the details correctly, including a valid email address, you can select the register button to complete your registration.
Sign in to your account
Once you have registered for your account, you can start accessing case information in DCS on a desktop, laptop or tablet device.
DCS works on most common internet browsers including:
- Edge (or Edge Chromium)
- Firefox
- Chrome
- Safari
DCS does not work on Internet Explorer.
Guidance and training
Find the DCS user guidance and supplementary information:
- guides on using DCS
- where to add case documents to DCS (standard file structures)
- Better Case Management Revival Handbook
- Criminal Procedure Rules
- forms used in criminal cases
The DCS training site has the same functionality as the live system and allows you to practice in a safe environment. You must register another account for this as it is separate from the live site.
Get help and support
For more help, contact the Digital Case System support team.
Email: crimeitsupport@justice.gov.uk
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:30pm
Give a brief description of the issue and if it’s with the training or the live service. Include your name, phone number, location and when you want to be contacted.
Updates to this page
Last updated 5 November 2024 + show all updates
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Updates to the guidance to add new content and links, and remove unneeded content
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Attached new versions of the Digital Case System Standard File Structure and DCS standard file structure (probation breach cases) table
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Updated Digital Case System Standard File Structure document published.
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New version of Digital Case System Standard File Structure document uploaded.
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Amended guidance bullet points 15.7.19
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Added a link to videos and quick guides 15.7.19
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Add links to Criminal Procedure Rules
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Disclosure management document protocol removed.
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Added further guidance.
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First published.