Family Solicitors

The President of the Family Division has sought to clarify updated arrangements for physical attendance in court after a previous direction caused confusion. Sir Andrew McFarlane issued a message to legal practitioners last week which stated that the first hearing notice for any applications issued in the Family Division after 1 March will be listed as an attended hearing. The original message, which was posted on Twitter by the family law group, said: ‘Subject to any other direction the first hearing notice for any applications issued in the Family Division after 1 March 2022 will be listed as an attended hearing. The court will consider any requests made in an individual case for any change in the format of the hearing bearing in mind the interests of justice. The format of any hearing after the first hearing will be subject to the direction of the judge.’ However, after questions were raised about the post an update was issued which conformed that the directive would only apply to the Royal Courts of Justice. The update said: “The PFD’s message below confirms that from 1 March 2022 the first hearing notice for any applications issued in the family division after that date in the RCJ only will be listed as an attended hearing. This is a change from the default position utilised during the pandemic. This message does not impact the current arrangements in place at family courts other than the RCJ. The format of any hearing will be subject to the direction of the judge.” McFarlane has previously discussed the issue of remote hearings and said that one clear negative was the missing time before a hearing when the close proximity of parties and their lawyers led to an earlier resolution. He also highlighted some problems with attended hearings, which included travel times. While a balance should be stuck in each case, McFarlane said, “generally, that balance should come down in favour of the parties and their lawyers attending all hearings where an important decision in the case may be taken.” The pros and cons of remote hearings and the need for decisions to be taken on a case by case basis is discussed in an article by Duncan Lewis trainee solicitors Natasha Patel and Bhavini Joshi. Read the full article HERE