Corporate report

Family Procedure Rules Committee annual report: April 2025 to March 2026

Updated 3 September 2026

1. Terms of Reference

The Family Procedure Rule Committee (‘the Committee’) was established in 2004 in accordance with the provisions of the Courts Act 2003. It is an Advisory Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice.

The Committee’s function is to make rules of court governing the practice and procedure in proceedings in the Family Division of the High Court and the family court. Its power to make the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (‘the Rules’) is to be exercised with a view to ensuring that the family justice system is accessible, fair and efficient and the rules are both simple and clearly expressed.

Before making rules of court, the Committee must meet and discuss proposed rules (unless it is inexpedient to do so) and consult such persons as it considers appropriate.

2. Background

The Committee is supported by a Secretariat provided by the Ministry of Justice.

3. Membership

The Committee comprised the following members during the period of this report:

• The Right Honourable Sir Andrew McFarlane – President of the Family Division
• The Honourable Mr Justice Keehan – High Court Judge (Chair)
• The Right Honourable Lord Justice Baker – Court of Appeal Judge
• The Honourable Mr Justice Robert Peel – High Court Judge
• Her Honour Judge Katherine Suh – Circuit Judge
• His Honour Judge Gareth Humphreys – Circuit Judge
• District Judge Teresa Foss – District Judge
• District Judge William Nelson – District Judge (Magistrates’ Court)
• District Judge Francis Cassidy– District Judge (County Court)
• Jennifer Kingsley JP – Lay Magistrate
• Helen Sewell – Justices’ Legal Advisor
• Poonam Bhari – Barrister
• Rhys Taylor – Barrister
• Graeme Fraser – Solicitor
• Laura Coyle – Solicitor
• Shabana Jaffar – Cafcass
• Robert Edwards – Cafcass Cymru (stood down February 2026)
• Bill Turner – Lay member (term ended November 2025)
• Vicki Mulligan – Lay member (appointed December 2025)

Mrs Justice Knowles, who is the judicial lead for Private Law and for domestic abuse in the Family Division, is also invited to attend each meeting.

4. Remuneration

The chair and members are not remunerated for their service on the Committee.

Members of the Committee are permitted to submit claims for travel and subsistence expenses, which are paid by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

A Register of Member Interests for the April 2025 to March 2026 is also published alongside this report on the Committee’s website.

5. Meetings

The Committee met on 7 April 2025, 12 May 2025, 9 June 2025, 14 July 2025, 6 October 2025, 3 November 2025, 1 December 2025, 2 February 2026 and 2 March 2026.

The meeting on 3 November 2025 was held as an open meeting where external stakeholders, including members of the public, who expressed an interest attended as observers. 

With the exception of the annual open meeting (which was conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams), meetings are undertaken on a hybrid basis, which meant that Committee members could choose to attend either in person at the Royal Courts of Justice or remotely via Microsoft Teams.

6. Working Groups

Where necessary the Committee establishes working groups to consider the detail of the rules relating to specific issues. Working groups are used to develop and test detailed proposals with MoJ Policy and legal officials before matters are returned to the Committee for further consideration.

Working groups may include non-Committee members where the Committee has agreed this would support the effective development of work.

During the period of this report, the following working groups were in existence and met at least once:

• Domestic Abuse Working Group (met six times)
• Express Financial Remedies Pilot Working Group (formerly known as the Fast Track Working Group) (met twelve times)
• Practice Direction 27A Review Working Group (met two times)
• Forms Working Group (met three times)
• Private Family Law Early Resolution Working Group (met seven times)
• The Information Sharing Working Group (met three times)

The Domestic Abuse Working Group was convened to consider work following the implementation of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. During this reporting period (April 2025 to March 2026), the Working Group considered workstreams relating to unregulated experts in family proceedings, Practice Direction 12J, Section 18 Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (‘Jade’s Law’), and Pilot Practice Direction 36ZI: Notification of Notifiable orders to the police. The Working Group members are Mrs Justice Knowles, Her Honour Judge Suh, Shabana Jaffar, Jennifer Kingsley, District Judge Foss, Bill Turner and Poonam Bhari. Bill Turner left the working group in November 2025 and District Judge Cassidy joined the Working Group in December 2025, and Vicki Mulligan joined in February 2026.

The Express Financial Remedies Pilot Working Group (formerly known as the Fast Track Working Group) considered issues arising from the Farquhar Committee’s proposed new fast track procedure for certain financial remedy cases during the period of this report. Officials from Ministry of Justice Legal and Policy teams met with relevant members approximately once a month over the course of the year to monitor how the pilot was operating in practice. These discussions considered the progress of the pilot, including the number of cases within scope, how cases were progressing, and whether cases were settling. The members of the Fast Track Working Group are Lord Justice Baker, Mr Justice Peel, Rhys Taylor, District Judge Foss, Samantha Hillas KC and Graeme Fraser.

The PD 27A Review Working Group was created to review and modernise Practice Direction 27A, which sets out requirements for bundle preparation in family proceedings. Over the reporting period the Group considered the consultation responses received and commenced a phased review of the key issues required. Members include Graeme Fraser, Rhys Taylor, Jennifer Kingsley and Helen Sewell.

The Forms Working Group considers changes that need to be made to forms used in family proceedings. The members of the Forms Working Group are Mr Justice Keehan, District Judge Foss, Rhys Taylor, Graeme Fraser and MoJ policy officials.

The Private Family Law Early Resolution Working Group’s role is to strengthen early intervention and streamline private law proceedings, ensuring children and families get timely, appropriate support and reducing the burden on the court where alternatives are safe and suitable. The members of the Private Family Law Working Group are Mrs Justice Knowles, Her Honour Judge Suh, His Honour Judge Hess, Nicolas Allen KC, Rhys Taylor, Graeme Fraser, Poonam Bhari, Caroline Bowden (Family Mediation Council Mediator) and Karen Barham (Solicitor).

The Information Sharing and Transparency Working Group was created to develop approaches to information sharing and transparency. This includes non-party access to court documents in line with the principle of open justice and thi work to consider the implications of the judgment in Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring (for and on behalf of Asbestos Victims Support Groups Forum UK). The members of the Information Sharing Working Group are Her Honour Judge Suh, His Honour Judge Humphreys Rhys Taylor, Poonam Bhari, District Judge Cassidy, Her Honour Judge Reardon, Laura Coyle, Shabana Jaffar, Zoe Fleetwood, Lucy Reed KC, District Judge Harrison and Helen Sewell.

The following working groups were not active and did not meet during the reporting period:

• International Family Working Group
• Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Working Group
• Transparency Working Group
• Children’s Working Group
• Single Lawyer Model Working Group
• Permission to Appeal Working Group
• Enforcement Working Group
• Costs Working Group

The International Family Working Group was established to support the Committee’s consideration of procedural issues arising in cross border family cases, including international child abduction, jurisdictional disputes, and the recognition and enforcement of overseas orders. The members are Mrs Justice Knowles, Mr Justice MacDonald, and Amy Rowe.

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Working Group was convened to support the Committee in overseeing the drafting of proposed new and amended procedure rules in relation to the DDSA 2020. The members of the Working Group are Her Honour Judge Roberts, District Judge Williams, District Judge Todd, His Honour Judge Waller, Gavin Smith, Oliver Gravell and Professor Liz Trinder.

The Transparency Working Group was created to take forward the Committee’s work on improving the openness and accountability of family courts following growing calls from the media and other stakeholders. During the reporting period, the Group’s work was subsequently taken forward by the Information Sharing and Transparency Working Group, which assumed responsibility for this work. The members are the President of the Family Division, Lord Justice Baker and Her Honour Judge Suh.

The Children’s Working Group was originally formed to support the Committee’s work on ensuring that the Family Procedure Rules and associated Practice Directions properly reflect the needs and welfare of children involved in family proceedings. Following discussion at the February 2026 Committee meeting, the Group was repurposed to review the procedural framework for Child Focused Courts in Practice Direction 36Z and Practice Direction 12B (Pilot), and to develop any necessary amendments to ensure that the Rules and Practice Directions appropriately support policy and operational decisions taken through programme governance.

The members of the Children’s Working Group are Mrs Justice Knowles, His Honour Judge Humphreys, District Judge Lowe, Vicki Mulligan, Helen Sewell, Shabana Jaffar, Beth Altman and Anna Sinclair.

The Single Lawyer Model Working Group was formed following discussions at the December 2022 FPRC meeting to consider whether families could be better supported by allowing one lawyer to act jointly for both parties in appropriate cases. Members include Mr Justice Peel, His Honour Judge Hess, Rhys Taylor, Alison Bull, Peter Newman, Harry Gates and Samantha Woodham.

The Permission to Appeal Working Group was established to examine the circumstances in which a judge of a specified level may determine that an application for permission to appeal, refused on the papers as without merit, should not be renewed at an oral hearing. This work concluded during the development of the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2024, which implemented the resulting changes. The Working Group subsequently considered whether a formal permission to appeal stage should be introduced for appeals from decisions of magistrates in family court, resulting in provision being included in the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025. Members include Lord Justice Baker, Poonam Bhari, Jennifer Kingsley and Dawn Millar.

The Enforcement Working Group considered the development of Rules and Practice Directions to give guidance on enforcement and provide a set of standard responses for use by the court. The members of the Enforcement Working Group are Lord Justice Baker, His Honour Judge Waller, Mr Justice Peel, Gavin Smith, Rhys Taylor, Graeme Fraser, and MoJ policy and legal officials.

The Costs Working Group was convened to consider what changes needed to be made to encourage parties to consider costs at an earlier stage in financial remedy proceedings. This Working Group is made up of a mix of Committee members and external experts. During the period of this report, the members of the Costs Working Group included Mr Justice Peel, District Judge Foss, Elizabeth Darlington, Rhys Taylor, Peter Burgess and Master Jason Rowley. 

7. Amendments to the Family Procedure Rules in 2025-26

During the period covered by this report, the Rules were amended by a statutory instrument. As with all amendments, these are made by the Committee and then formally allowed by the relevant minister at the Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Lord Chancellor.

The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025 were laid before Parliament on 27 November 2025, with provisions contained coming into force on various dates between January and June 2026.

They made the following amendments to the Rules:

• Removed an obsolete cross-reference in rule 16.4 following the earlier omission of rule 8.42 (raising the minimum age for marriage and civil partnership to 18), ensuring consistency within the Rules.
• Amended rule 29.1 to enable one party to notify the court that another party’s contact details should not be disclosed, strengthening safeguards for parties where there are concerns about confidentiality and safety.
• Amended rule 30.3 to introduce a requirement for permission to appeal from decisions of lay justices (magistrates) in the family court, and to provide that applications for permission to appeal must be made to the appeal court rather than to the lay justices.
• The full statutory instrument and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum can be accessed via this link - The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2025.

8. Practice Directions

The Rules are supplemented by a series of Practice Directions. Practice Directions, and amendments to them, are made by the President of the Family Division and approved by a Minister on behalf of the Lord Chancellor. The views of the Committee are usually sought on any new Practice Directions and amendments to existing Practice Directions.

Practice Direction Updates Nos 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of 2025 and Practice Direction Update No.1 of 2026 were introduced within the period covered by this report:

Practice Direction Updates can be found on the ’what’s new’ page at:

https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family.

9. Consultations

During the period covered by this report, the Committee and/or its Working Groups undertook targeted stakeholder consultations as was considered appropriate when developing provisions for inclusion in amendments to the Rules and Practice Directions.

In addition, the Committee ran one public consultation on potential changes to the Family Procedure Rules and linked practice directions in relation to the use of regulated experts in certain children proceedings, published on 14 March 2025. The consultation specifically sought views on a proposed new rule, FPR 25.5A, together with amendments to rule 25.2 and Practice Directions 25B and 25C.

The proposed changes would require that, subject to limited exceptions, experts instructed in certain family law children proceedings are regulated experts, with the aim of ensuring that expert evidence relied upon by the court meets appropriate standards of qualification, experience and oversight.

The consultation ran from 14 March 2025 to 6 June 2025 and invited views from stakeholders on the proposed approach, including the definition of a regulated expert and the operation of the proposed exceptions.

10. Contact

Any enquiries about the work of the Committee may be addressed to:

Secretary to the Family Procedure Rule Committee
FPRCSecretariat@justice.gov.uk