This guide explains good practice for couriers carrying legal documents in England and Wales. It is not legal advice: the instructing solicitor decides how documents must be delivered or served, and the court decides whether service was valid.
What is a chain of custody?
A chain of custody is an unbroken account of who held something from the moment it left its owner until it reached its destination. For legal documents (contracts for signature, court bundles, original deeds, papers to be served) it answers three questions in order:
- Who had the documents at each point?
- When did they change hands?
- What evidence shows each handover?
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A missing hour overnight in a van, an unsigned handover between two colleagues, or a time written from memory the next day all give the other side something to question.
Why do law firms ask couriers for one?
Because they may need to rely on it. A firm that completes a transaction, files a bundle or serves papers may later have to show exactly when and how documents reached their destination. The courier is often the only witness to the handover, so firms increasingly expect a record rather than a recollection.
How does it relate to service under the Civil Procedure Rules?
Part 6 of the Civil Procedure Rules sets out how documents are served in civil proceedings in England and Wales. Personal service of a claim form, under rule 6.5, means leaving it with the individual or, for a company, with a person holding a senior position within it. Where a certificate of service is needed, the rules set what it must state; for personal service of documents other than the claim form, rule 6.29 requires the date and time of personal service.
A courier’s custody record can make that certificate easier to complete accurately: it shows who received the documents, their role, and the exact time. But the record is not the certificate, and it does not decide whether service was valid. Family proceedings have their own rules in Part 6 of the Family Procedure Rules. Always follow the instructing solicitor’s directions.
What should a custody record contain?
At minimum:
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Matter or job reference | Links the record to the instruction |
| Description of the documents and number of items | Shows what was carried, so nothing can be said to be missing |
| Seal or envelope reference | Shows the documents were not opened in transit |
| Each handover: date and time | The question most often asked |
| Each handover: who released and who received, by name and role | The heart of the chain |
| Each handover: place | Where the change of hands happened |
| Seal intact at each handover | Confirms the documents were not tampered with |
| Signatures of both parties | Each person confirms their part |
| Final recipient’s name, role and signature | Closes the chain |
Recorded electronically, add the GPS position and time captured by the driver’s device, and a photo of the handover. Those are hard to fake and easy to produce.
How should couriers keep the chain unbroken?
- Record handovers inside your own business. Office to driver, driver to driver and overnight storage are all changes of custody.
- Write the actual time. Not “about 2pm”. If the record is electronic, let the device record it.
- Print names as well as signing. Most signatures cannot be read.
- Do not open seals. Keep the log outside the envelope.
- Do not improvise at the door. If the named person is not available, record the attempt and ask the instructing firm what to do.
- Keep the record somewhere you can find it. A dispute may come months later.
What if documents must reach a court or office by a deadline?
Treat the deadline as part of the instruction and record against it. Note the deadline on the job, record the time the documents left the sender, and record the time of the handover at the destination, including who received them at the counter or reception. If you are running late, tell the instructing firm as soon as you know, and record when you told them. A record that shows the deadline was met, or exactly when and why it was missed, is far more useful to a firm than a driver’s memory of traffic.
What should you agree with the instructing firm first?
Before the first job, agree in writing who may receive documents at each destination, what to do if that person is not there, whether a paper log must travel with the documents, what evidence the firm wants back and in what form, and how quickly. Agreeing these once saves a phone call on every job and stops drivers improvising at the door.
Paper log or electronic record?
A paper log that travels with the documents is familiar to law firms and captures signatures. Its weakness is that people write it, so times and places depend on their honesty and memory.
An electronic record adds what people cannot easily alter: device time, GPS position, the route between stops and photos. Track That Ride keeps that record for each delivery, stores every status change with who made it, when and where, and logs every time someone views or exports the record. Many couriers use both: a paper chain of custody log for signatures, and the system for times and places. See legal document courier tracking for how that works.
How long should custody records be kept?
Long enough to answer questions about the matter, which may be longer than for ordinary deliveries, but not indefinitely. Agree a period with the instructing firm, and remember the records contain personal data, so UK data protection law expects you to keep them no longer than necessary.