Family

The minimum age for marriage rose to 18 this week, as the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 came into force.

The first Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) Practice Direction update of 2023 has been issued, amending various practice directions including, inter alia, amendments to reflect changes introduced by the Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2023, SI 2023/61, and also to make provision for parts of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The amendments come into force on 18 February 2023 and 6 April 2023.

Family courts in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle will open to reporters from this week under measures to increase transparency in the justice system.

Marie Law, Head of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, answers some of the most common questions about PEth blood alcohol testing.

Family judges will invite local MPs to attend court, the government has said in its response to the Justice Committee report, ‘Open justice: court reporting in the digital age’.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) has published YouTube videos explaining how to submit online applications for contested financial remedies. 

The government has responded to the Justice Committee’s report titled ‘Open justice: court reporting in the digital age’. 

In the third part of his series on the Hague Convention, Mani Singh Basi offers advice on efficient timetabling & evidence of habitual residence

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has announced that the government will be undertaking a review looking into ways to better the civil legal aid market through improving the sustainability of the legal aid system for people facing civil and family legal issues. 

His Honour Judge Hess has issued a message for users of the London Financial Remedies Court (FRC) regarding operational changes that take effect in January 2023.