Guidance

HMCTS Common Platform: registration for prosecuting organisations

Register your organisation for Common Platform to view and manage criminal cases.

Applies to England and Wales

About Common Platform

Common Platform is for HMCTS, the judiciary, and professional court users, including prosecuting organisations.

You can use Common Platform to manage:

  • single justice procedure (SJP) cases
  • postal requisitions 
  • summons

Common Platform will:

  • replace HMCTS legacy systems, such as Libra
  • give you access to view and manage case information, including reviewing of defendants’ details and downloading results
  • allow you to serve case documents to the court, such as a copy of the prosecution notice

Common Platform is in use across England and Wales by prosecutors including:

  • Transport for London (TfL)
  • TV Licensing
  • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) 
  • some police forces
  • MerseyRail
  • London North Eastern Railway

Find out more about when Common Platform can be used

As a prosecuting organisation, you must register for an account before being able to view and manage your cases on Common Platform.

Access a case

Once your organisation has registered and your account has been activated, you can start accessing cases in Common Platform.

How to register your organisation

To register your organisation for Common Platform, we need to know your:

  • postal address
  • main email address
  • remittance account details for payments
  • volumes of work
  • method of prosecution
  • offences and codes for offences you prosecute

If you do not know your offence codes, find them in the CJS Offence Index.

We also need to know if you have the ability and intention to build an API. We will need the lead times for your IT supplier and any details of their build method. 

Register your organisation for an account

What happens next

Once you have completed the organisation registration questionnaire, we’ll contact you with the next steps.

We will send you new templates and guidance for creating SJP notices. You must use these templates. We will review them during testing.

We will work with you to agree dates for testing and go live.

You will need to complete and sign the following documentation: 

Memorandum of understanding 

This is a formal agreement that sets out how your organisation and HMCTS will operate together. It must be approved and digitally signed by an accountable person from your organisation with the necessary authority.

Terms and conditions agreement 

These are the legal obligations under which the service is provided. These apply to your organisation and your staff who will be using Common Platform. This needs to be approved and digitally signed by an accountable person from your organisation.

Service level agreement

This document sets out expectations and objectives relating to the caseload and how it will be progressed. This is agreed and reviewed by service owners every quarter, unless otherwise agreed.

Security assurance questionnaire

This is a formal agreement on security measures to be applied before and during the exchange of data between case management systems. This needs to be signed by an appropriate representative of your organisation. 

Get help and guidance 

If you need help with registering, email CP-NPP-Registration@justice.gov.uk

See our guides on using Common Platform

Once you have registered your organisation, your main contact for Common Platform will be the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre (CTSC). 

Courts and Tribunals Service Centre
Telephone: 0330 808 4407
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Closed on bank holidays
Email: ProfessionalContactCrime@justice.gov.uk

Updates to this page

Published 12 July 2024

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