The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023 will come into force on 27th February and 6th April 2023.
The Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023 amend the Family Procedure Rules 2010 in the following ways:
- in light of the accession of King Charles III, various references to “Her Majesty” and “Queen’s Bench Division” are amended to refer to “His Majesty” and “King’s Bench Division”.
- amendments are made to provide for provisions relating to the attendance of Independent Domestic Violence Advisers (“IDVAs”) and Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (“ISVAs”) at family proceedings held in private to be made in a practice direction.
- the procedure for applications for the court to consent to a 16 or 17-year-old to marry or enter into a civil partnership is removed from the Family Procedure Rules 2010, in light of provision in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, which increases the minimum age at which a person may marry or enter into a civil partnership to 18.
- an additional category of judge is added to the list of those who can dismiss an application for permission to appeal as totally without merit on the papers and order that the permission application may not be renewed at an oral hearing.
- the procedure to be followed when an application is made to enforce an order in family proceedings is altered so that the debtor is required to provide details of their financial means at least seven days before the first court hearing on the application.
The amendments come into force on 6th April 2023, except those relating to consent to marry, which come into force on 27th February 2023.
