Updates from the Bench

View from the President’s Chambers – May 2019

The Rt. Hon. Sir Andrew MacFarlane, President of the Family Division, has today released his second View from the President’s Chambers.

The View can be downloaded here.

HHJ George’s February Newsletter

Leicester DFJ HHJ George has published her second Newsletter, which is now available to download here.

HHJ George’s Inaugural Newsletter

Happy New Year to all our members! And welcome to HHJ George as newly-appointed Designated Family Judge for Leicestershire.

Practitioners can anticipate the DFJ ringing the changes in 2019 to ensure that our average time for disposal of care and private law cases is reduced, quickly and significantly. The steps which the Family Court will expect all practitioners to take are set out in HHJ George’s first newsletter, which focuses on the need for everyone involved to remain as pro-active as possible in ensuring readiness for effective hearings. This applies to all stages of proceedings, but readers will note the renewed emphasis on the need for Issues Resolution Hearings to be as meaningful as possible.

The newsletter can be downloaded here; the extension of time proforma here and the President’s Allocation Guidance here.

Bundle Warning

Practitioners and court users should note that a revised PD27A will come into effect on 23rd July 2018.

The bundle practice direction remains largely unchanged, however there are some significant amendments which relate in particular to a new page limit being imposed on certain categories of documents by the new para. 5.2A.  The limits are as follows:

5.2A.1 Unless the court has specifically directed otherwise, being satisfied that such direction is necessary to enable the proceedings to be disposed of justly, and subject to paragraph 5.2A.2 below, any of the following documents included in the bundle shall be limited to no more than the number of sheets of A4 paper and sides of text specified below:

Plainly, permission may be given for documents to exceed this length where necessary to enable the proceedings to be disposed of justly.  What is not clear, however, is whether such permission should be sought in advance of the document being prepared and filed, or whether permission can operate retrospectively.  How will parties know in advance how long the as-yet unprepared document is likely to be?  What will be the effect of a refusal to grant retrospective permission for a statement or report to exceed the stated page limit?  Will the statement or report be excluded altogether or will it need to be amended or redacted in some way?  And how will the practice direction apply to documents which have already been filed in current proceedings which are not yet subject to the new rules?  All remains to be seen.

Practitioners are reminded that experts will need to be informed in advance of the requirement that their report and executive summary not exceed 40 and 4 pages respectively.

Please also take note of the following:

Penalties for failure to comply with the practice direction

12.1 Failure to comply with any part of this practice direction may result in the judge removing the case from the list or putting the case further back in the list and may also result in a ‘wasted costs’ order or some other adverse costs order.

Don’t say you weren’t warned…

The revised Practice Direction can be found here and will be uploaded to our INFORMATION CENTRE in due course.

Newsletter May 2018

Our local Circuit Judge “team” of HHJ Handley, HHJ George and (our newest addition) HHJ Godwin have today issued a joint Newsletter, updating practitioners on performance and issuing a few timely reminders of best practice.

Of particular note is the need for advocates to be ready to deal with Issues Resolution Hearings as effectively as possible, to ensure compliance with the PLO expectations.  Issues should be refined in advance at an advocates’ meeting and witness requirements and availability must be provided for the IRH, together with a realistic witness template.

The Newsletter can be downloaded here.

Parents with Learning Disabilities

The President of the Family Division has issued renewed guidance reiterating the obligations placed on Local Authorities and the Court when dealing with cases involving parents who have learning disabilities.

The guidance can be downloaded here and from our INFORMATION CENTRE.

President’s 18th “View”

The President of the Family Division has published his 18th View from the President’s Chambers, in which he sets out his support for a Financial Remedies Court.  The view can be downloaded here.

High Court allocation guidance

The President of the Family Division has produced new guidance as to when family cases should be issued in the High Court and explaining in detail the interplay between the Family Court and the High Court.  The guidance can be found here.