PD Update No. 1 of 2023 makes the following provisions:
- PD5A (Forms) is amended in light of the new rule in the FPR (see the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023) about financial information being provided before a hearing on an enforcement application. The amendment makes clear that Form E1 should be used to provide this information. This amendment comes into force on 6th April 2023.
- The current PD6C, which makes provision about orders or requests for disclosure of information by Government Departments when the court is seeking to obtain address details for a party or a child, is replaced by a new PD6C with up to date addresses for DWP and HMRC. The new PD6C came into force on 18th February 2023.
- PD12G and PD14E, which make provision as to when it would not be contempt of court to disclose information from certain family proceedings, are amended so that it would not be contempt for a party to disclose such information to an Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (‘IDVA’) or Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (‘ISVA’). These amendments come into force on 6th April 2023.
- A new PD27C is added, which makes provision about the attendance of IDVAs and ISVAs at hearings in family proceedings. Cross-references to that new PD27C are added to four existing PDs (PDs 3AA, 12B, 12B(Pilot) and 12J). The new PD and the amendments to other PDs come into force on 6th April 2023.
- PD30A (Appeals) is amended in light of the new FPR amendment relating to permission to appeal (see the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023). This amendment comes into force on 6th April 2023.
- PD36ZA, which underpins a pilot scheme in North Yorkshire for early email notification by the court to the police of non-molestation orders and occupation orders with powers of arrest attached , is extended for a further year, to the end of February 2024. This amendment came into force on 18th February 2023.
- PD36ZC (which underpins HMCTS’s online service for divorce and civil partnership dissolution applications) and PD41B (which underpins HMCTS’s online service for consent financial remedy applications) are amended to reflect the operational reality as to how a legal representative’s consent is given to be served with documents and orders relating to the proceedings via the online service. This amendment came into force on 18th February 2023.
Various PDs, as set out in Annex 3 to the PD Update, are amended to reflect the accession of King Charles III. These amendments come into force on 18th February 2023.
