Guidance

Family Procedure Rules 2010 Practice Directions - June 2019 update

New Practice Directions 30B and 36O, and changes to Practice Directions 36G, 36I, 36J and 36K come into effect in June, July and October.

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

PD Making document - June 2019

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email web.comments@justice.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

The following amendments and insertions have been made.

Practice Direction Details
Practice Direction 36J (Pilot scheme: Transparency - attendance at hearings in private) PD36J is amended to extend the pilot scheme for legal bloggers to attend hearings held in private to a new end date of 30 June 2020.

These changes come into effect on 29 June 2019.

Practice Direction Details
Practice Direction 36G (Pilot scheme: procedure for using an online system to generate applications in certain private law proceedings relating to children) PD36G is amended to reflect the fact that the pilot online system for C100 applications is now operated by HMCTS.
Practice Direction 36I (Pilot scheme: Procedure for online filing of certain applications for consent orders for a financial remedy in connection with matrimonial proceedings) PD36I is amended to extend the pilot scheme for certain consent financial remedy applications to be made online, so that it will now end on 31 March 2020. It is also amended to clarify to which cases the pilot scheme applies.
Practice Direction 36K (Pilot scheme: procedure for the bulk scanning of certain private law applications) PD36K is amended to enable further roll out of the scheme for bulk scanning of C100 paper applications, and to enable the court to send such applications to the bulk scanning company in cases where, had the applicant followed the PD, applications would have been sent direct to the bulk scanning company in the first instance.
Practice Direction 36O (Pilot scheme: procedure for bulk scanning of certain documents) New PD36O is introduced, to enable certain documents (not covered by PD36K) to be sent to a bulk scanning company by a party, where HMCTS indicates that this should be done rather than papers being sent to the court.

These changes come into effect on 1 July 2019.

Practice Direction Details
Practice Direction 30B (Appeals - Transparency) New PD30B is introduced, to support rule 30.12A FPR 2010. The new PD sets out the circumstances in which the court hearing an appeal in the family court or the Family Division of the High Court would ordinarily make an order that the appeal be heard in public, and includes a link to the templates setting out the terms of the order which the court would ordinarily make.

These changes come into effect on 1 October 2019.

Published 29 June 2019