Practice Direction: Committal for Contempt of Court – Open Court

Please find attached the Practice Direction: Committal for Contempt of Court – Open Court dated 26th March 2015 for your reference. It provides very useful direction regarding the appropriate procedures for committal proceedings in open court; in private; and the delivery of the court’s judgment in such cases.

The Practice Direction applies to all proceedings for committal for contempt of court, including contempt in the face of the court, whether arising under any statutory or inherent jurisdiction and, particularly, supplements the provisions relating to contempt of court in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, the Family Procedure Rules 2010, the Court of Protection Rules 2007, and the Criminal Procedure Rules 2014 and any related Practice Directions supplementing those various provisions.

The Practice Direction applies in all courts in England and Wales, including the Court of Protection, and supersedes the Practice Guidance: Committal for Contempt [2013] 1 WLR 1326, dated 3 May 2013; Practice Guidance (Committal Proceedings: Open Court) (No. 2) [2013] 1 WLR 1753, dated 4 June 2013; and President’s Circular: Committals Family Court Practice 2024 at 2976, dated 2 August 2013.