The Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) (Amendment) Rules 2021

Made: 22nd April 2021

Laid before Parliament: 26th April 2021

Coming into force: 24th May 2021

These Rules are made with the agreement of the Lord Chancellor in accordance with paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.

Citation, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Rules may be cited as the Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) (Amendment) Rules 2021.

• (2) These Rules come into force on 24th May 2021.

• (3) These Rules extend to England and Wales.

Amendments to the Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) Rules 2014

2

The Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) Rules 2014[^f00003] are amended as follows.

3

In rule 7(1) (composition: appeals heard by a judge of High Court level) omit sub-paragraph (b).

4

In Schedule 1 (allocation)—

• (a) in paragraph 2—

• (i) in sub-paragraph (c), omit “where the parties consent to permission being granted and to the substantive order sought”;

• (ii) in sub-paragraph (f)—

• (aa) in paragraph (i) for “; or” substitute “.”; and

• (bb) omit paragraph (ii); and

• (b) in paragraph 4 omit sub-paragraphs (a) and (d).

Signed

Sir Andrew McFarlane — President of the Family Division — 14th April 2021

I agree

David Wolfson — Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State — Ministry of Justice — 22nd April 2021

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Rules amend the Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) Rules 2014 (S.I. 2014/840) (“the 2014 Rules”).

Rule 3 omits from the 2014 Rules the provision which routes appeals from decisions in financial remedy proceedings made by a district judge of the Principal Registry of the Family Division, or of a person appointed to act as a deputy or as a temporary additional office for such a district judge, to a judge of High Court level in the family court. Such appeals will instead be allocated under rule 6 or 7(2) of the 2014 Rules.

Rule 4 amends Schedule 1 to the 2014 Rules to make provision for all proceedings under section 12 or 13 of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, or under Schedule 7 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33) to be allocated to a judge of district judge level in the family court, subject to the provisions of rule 15(2) of the 2014 Rules.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2005 c. 4.

[^f00002]: 1984 c. 42. Section 31D was inserted by paragraph 1 of Schedule 10 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c. 22).

[^f00003]: S.I. 2014/840. Relevant amendments were made by S.I. 2014/3297 and 2018/1413.