Eleven Practice Directions updated
Practice Direction Update No 5 came into force from 15 July 2021 and amends eleven Practice Directions as detailed below:
- Practice Direction 3AA (vulnerable persons): to implement the changes made to the special measures' regime through the Domestic Abuse Act 2021;
- Practice Direction 5A (forms): to insert reference to the new contempt application form (FC600), which will come into use from 30 July, latest;
- Practice Direction 5B (communication and filing by email): to clarify procedure for debit/credit card information and for the sending of confidential information;
- Practice Direction 12J (domestic abuse and harm): makes amendments relating to sections 1 to 3 and 63 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021;
- Practice Direction 17A and 22A (statements of truth): to clarify that providing false information can lead to contempt of court proceedings;
- Practice Direction 27B and Practice Direction 36J (legal bloggers): to make the Legal Bloggers pilot permanent and to make clear who this will apply to. In turn, pilot PD36J has been updated to note that it will come to an end on 30 September 2021, as from 1 October 2021 and that it will be replaced by the amended r27.11 FPR and PD27B;
- New Practice Direction 29D (court officers making corrections to orders): to make clear situations where a court office can make an amendment to an order, without prior reference to a judge or a Justices' Legal Adviser;
- Practice Direction 36M (online public law): to amend the expiry date of Practice Direction 36M to 1 February 2022 and to mandate use of the online public law service in certain Designated Family Judge courts;
- Practice Direction 36Q (pilot scheme: local variations to the CAP: Covid): to amend PD36Q from 1 October 2021 to require information to be given about local variations to the CAP;
- Practice Direction 36X (piloting mandatory use of online divorce): this new pilot practice direction will mandate use of the online divorce system by applicants' legal representatives, from 13 September 2021;
- Practice Direction 36Y (pilot scheme: modification of various PDs: post-Covid): this new pilot practice direction will come into place when the current Covid-related pilots PD36Q and PD36R come to an end. It will pilot for a further 12 months the modifications currently in place under PD36Q and PD36R. The pilot practice direction includes a requirement for provision of information about local modifications to the CAP.
For the current version of the Family Procedure Rules, including the amended Practice Directions, click here.
15/8/21