Get Your Legal Fitness Certificate
Solicitors, courts and tribunals sometimes ask for written medical evidence when a person cannot attend a hearing, or when their health is relevant to a legal process. Our online service lets you obtain a doctor's letter of that kind without the delay of a face to face appointment.
Each letter follows an individual review by a GMC registered UK doctor and records the clinical position on the date of review. It is supporting evidence only. Whether it is accepted, and what weight it carries, is a matter for the court, tribunal or organisation you send it to.
✔ Issued by a GMC registered UK doctor after an individual clinical review
✔ Supporting evidence for court dates and solicitor correspondence, not a capacity assessment or an expert report
✔ Most requests reviewed same day
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Accepted by most UK employers, universities and insurers, subject to their own policies. All consultations are subject to clinical assessment and certificates are issued only where clinically appropriate.
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How It Works
Complete short online consult
No appointment required.
Complete a short medical questionnaire and upload any supporting evidence.
Doctor reviews your evidence
A GMC-registered doctor reviews your submission individually.
✔ Full refund if a certificate cannot be issued.
Receive your certificate
Most certificates are issued same day, almost all by 9AM the next morning. Delivered as a signed PDF. A doctor will email you if more evidence is needed.
Certificate security
Every MedicalCert certificate can be checked as genuine
Each certificate is issued with anti-tampering protection and its own verification reference. If your employer, university, airline or insurer wants to confirm the document came from a GMC-registered doctor, they can check it against MedicalCert records. Altered or copied documents do not pass that check.
A legal fitness certificate is a doctor’s letter describing how a health condition or injury affects a person at a particular time, written for use in a legal context. It is most often used to explain why someone cannot attend a hearing on a given date, to support a request that a hearing be moved, or to give a solicitor a clinical picture to put before a court or tribunal. It is supporting evidence rather than a determination: what happens next is decided by the court, tribunal or body that receives it. This guide explains what the letter can and cannot do, and how to obtain one online, subject to clinical review.
Legal fitness certificates occupy a specific niche, distinct from standard sick notes or workplace fit-to-work letters. They are typically requested when a solicitor or a party to proceedings needs an independent written account of someone’s health from a registered doctor. As with all MedicalCert documentation, certificates are issued based on the clinical information provided and reflect a medical opinion at the time of review.
Common Uses for a Legal Fitness Certificate
Fitness to Attend Court
- Setting out why a party or witness is medically unable to attend a hearing on a specific date
- Evidence to file with an application to adjourn. Adjourning a hearing is one of the court’s own case management powers under CPR 3.1(2)(b), so only the court can grant it
- Describing how symptoms, treatment or recovery affect your ability to take part on the day
Evidence for Your Solicitor
- A dated clinical summary your solicitor can place on file and refer to in correspondence
- Confirmation of the condition you reported and the period it covers
- The reviewing doctor’s GMC number, so the recipient can verify the letter
Employment Tribunal & Disputes
- Medical evidence for employment tribunal cases involving health-related matters
- Medical background a tribunal can weigh when it decides whether the section 6 Equality Act 2010 definition of disability is met. That decision belongs to the tribunal, not to a doctor
- A record of the symptoms you reported and when you reported them. A letter of this kind does not establish what caused a condition
MedicalCert reviews the information you submit and does not carry out in person examinations. Several things sit outside what this service can issue:
- Mental capacity. Capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is decision specific and time specific. Section 1(2) requires that a person is assumed to have capacity unless the contrary is established, section 2(1) asks whether an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, the mind or brain leaves them unable to make the particular decision at the material time, and section 3(1) sets the functional test of understanding, retaining, using or weighing, and communicating the decision. The Act’s Code of Practice states that professionals should never express an opinion without carrying out a proper examination and assessment (paragraph 4.52). A remote review of a form cannot meet that standard, so we do not carry out capacity assessments and our letters do not state that a person has or lacks capacity.
- Wills and other decisions with their own legal test. Capacity to make a will is governed by the common law test in Banks v Goodfellow (1870) LR 5 QB 549, and the 2005 Act did not replace the common law tests (Code of Practice paragraphs 4.32 and 4.33). Where capacity to sign a document could later be challenged, the Code advises that an expert opinion should be obtained (paragraph 4.54).
- Lasting powers of attorney. The certificate required by paragraph 2(1)(e) of Schedule 1 to the Act, confirming that the donor understands the purpose of the instrument and the scope of the authority conferred under it and is not under undue pressure, must be given by a prescribed certificate provider. We do not provide it.
- Expert reports. An expert instructed under Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules owes an overriding duty to the court that overrides any obligation to the party instructing or paying them (rule 35.3), expert evidence cannot be called or relied on without the court’s permission (rule 35.4), and the report must state the substance of the instructions and confirm that the expert understands and has complied with that duty (rule 35.10). Our letters are not expert reports and our doctors do not act as expert witnesses.
- Fitness to plead. In criminal proceedings the court determines the question without a jury, and only on the written or oral evidence of two or more registered medical practitioners, at least one of whom is duly approved (Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, section 4(5) and (6)).
Where your case needs any of these, ask your solicitor to instruct an appropriate specialist. A private letter reflects a GP level clinical opinion on the information submitted, and may or may not be sufficient depending on the legal context.
What a Legal Fitness Certificate Covers
A legal fitness certificate from a GMC-registered doctor can set out, subject to clinical review:
- That you have a health condition or injury that affects your ability to attend proceedings or engage in a legal process on a specific date or for a specific period
- The nature and duration of the limitation (e.g. a period of bed rest following surgery, or a mental health episode of defined duration)
- That you were under medical care, or receiving treatment, during the period the letter covers
- The doctor’s GMC registration details, signature, and contact information for solicitor verification
The certificate is written in clear, professional language appropriate for a legal audience and carries a unique verification reference number. It does not express a view on mental capacity, and it does not decide any question that is for a court or tribunal.
How to Get a Legal Fitness Certificate Online
Confirm what the legal context requires
Speak with your solicitor or the relevant party to confirm what specific information the certificate needs to include. Some legal contexts have specific wording requirements or forms, obtain these before applying.
Gather your supporting medical evidence
Collect any existing medical documentation confirming your condition, hospital letters, discharge summaries, diagnosis confirmations, or prescription records. This evidence supports the reviewing doctor’s assessment.
Complete the online consultation form
Provide details of your health condition, how it affects your ability to participate in the legal process, the relevant dates, and the specific purpose of the certificate. Upload your supporting evidence.
GMC-registered doctor review and certificate issuance
A GMC-registered doctor reviews your submission. Where clinically appropriate, a signed legal fitness certificate is issued. If additional information is required, the doctor will contact you directly.
Receive your certificate by email
Your certificate is delivered as a PDF, same day or by 9AM the following morning with the express service. Pass it to your solicitor or submit it to the relevant court or legal authority.
Get a Legal Fitness Certificate Online
GMC-registered doctors. No appointment needed. Supporting medical evidence for court dates, solicitor correspondence and employment tribunal claims. It supports your case, it does not decide it.
Start your online consultationFrequently Asked Questions
Can a MedicalCert certificate be used as a medico-legal expert report?
No. A MedicalCert certificate is a private GP level letter based on the information you provide. An expert report under Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules is a different document: the expert owes an overriding duty to the court which overrides any obligation to the party instructing or paying them (rule 35.3), expert evidence cannot be called or relied on without the court’s permission (rule 35.4), and the report must set out the substance of the instructions and confirm that the expert understands and has complied with that duty (rule 35.10). Our doctors do not act as expert witnesses. If your case needs an expert report, your solicitor should instruct a medico-legal specialist.
Can this certificate be used to adjourn a court date on medical grounds?
It can be filed in support of an application, but it cannot secure one. Adjourning a hearing is one of the court’s own case management powers under rule 3.1(2)(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules, and the decision rests with the court, which may refuse, may want further evidence, or may require a particular form. To be of any use the letter should give the relevant dates, the nature of the limitation and the clinical basis for it. We cannot promise any outcome, and no certificate obliges a court to move a hearing.
Can this certificate be used for mental capacity or fitness to plead assessments?
No. Capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 is decision specific and time specific, and a person is assumed to have capacity unless the contrary is established (section 1(2)). Assessing it means applying the section 2 diagnostic threshold and the section 3 functional test to the particular decision at the material time, and the Act’s Code of Practice says a professional should never express an opinion without carrying out a proper examination and assessment (paragraph 4.52). That cannot be done from a submitted form, so we do not issue capacity assessments. Fitness to plead is a separate question: the court determines it without a jury, on the written or oral evidence of two or more registered medical practitioners, at least one of whom is duly approved (Criminal Procedure (Insanity) Act 1964, section 4(5) and (6)). Our letters can describe a health condition and its effect on attending or taking part. They do not state that a person has or lacks capacity.
What if my solicitor or the court requires specific wording?
If you or your solicitor require specific wording or have a specific form, upload it during the consultation process. The reviewing doctor will complete it to the required standard where the clinical information supports doing so. Note that doctors can only write what is clinically supported, they cannot alter the factual content of a certificate at a solicitor’s instruction.
Can you confirm that I have capacity to instruct a solicitor or to make a will?
No. Capacity to conduct litigation and capacity to make a will are separate common law tests, which the Mental Capacity Act 2005 did not replace, and the test for a will remains the one in Banks v Goodfellow (1870) LR 5 QB 549 (Code of Practice paragraphs 4.32 and 4.33). Where capacity to sign a document could later be challenged, the Code advises that an expert opinion should be obtained (paragraph 4.54). We do not provide that opinion, and we are not the certificate provider required for a lasting power of attorney under paragraph 2(1)(e) of Schedule 1 to the Act. Ask your solicitor to arrange an in person assessment by an appropriate specialist.
