FAMILY COURT REFORMS 2014

FAMILY COURT REFORMS 2014

After several years of consultation, the government introduced reforms to the Family Court and Care of Children Act 2005 (COCA) in 2013 which came into force in April 2014. While initially they had laudable aims to reduce delay and give opportunities for out of court settlement, they became fiscally driven under Minster of Justice Judith Collins. Lawyers were eliminated from the early stages of on notice applications to save on legal aid fees. The keys points of the reforms were:

  1. Introduction of Family Dispute Resolution mediation service. Parties must attend this in disputes over child care arrangements before filing an application for a Parenting Order in the Family Court unless there are family violence or other urgent safety issues (in which case parties can make a without notice application to the court) or FDR is plainly impracticable.
  2. Parties can get free counselling and legal advice to complement FDR (if they are eligible for legal aid).
  3. Parties are not permitted to have lawyers represent them initially in the Family Court if they apply on notice.
  4. Applications in the Family Court are put on either simple, standard or without notice tracks
  5. Standard forms were introduced for COCA applications
  6. Where lawyer for the child is appointed or a psychologist’s report is ordered the court will order the parties to contribute to the costs. Subsequently the High Court has decided that legally aided parties will not normally be ordered be ordered to do so.
  7. Certain rules in COCA have been tightened up such the need to have leave before you can commence another application within 2 years after a Parenting Order is made.

One lawyer has described the current COCA and its associated rules as a ‘labyrinth’. If you need help on navigating the labyrinth or wish to share your opinions with me, contact me here.