In pre-trial discovery during a lawsuit, parties may have the right to inspect documents that are relevant to the case.
[3] Traditionally, in the English common law system, parties who filed lawsuits that requested legal remedies could file a request in the Court of Chancery to inspect of documents in the possession of an opposing party, as long as the documents "tended to prove 'the case' at law of the party filing the [request].
"[4] If the documents were not privileged, the court would order the opposing party to provide the requested documents to a clerk in the Court of Chancery so that duplicates could be made.
[11] In England, for example, when determining whether a party should be allowed to inspect documents, courts balance the party's need for that evidence against any public interests that would be protected by denying the request for inspection.
[12] Courts may also impose sanctions on parties that do not comply with requests for inspection.