Re C (children) (residence order: application being dismissed at fact-finding stage) [2012] EWCA Civ 1489, [2012] All ER (D) 223 (Nov)
It had long been recognised that a judge exercising the family jurisdiction had a much broader discretion than he would in the civil jurisdiction to determine the way in which an application of the kind made by the father should be pursued. In an appropriate case, a judge could summarily dismiss the application as being, if not groundless, lacking enough merit to justify pursuing the matter. He might determine that the matter was one to be dealt with on the basis of written evidence and oral submissions without the need for oral evidence. He might, as the judge had done in the instant case, decide to hear the evidence of the applicant and then take stock of where the matter stood at the end of the evidence. If a judge was satisfied that no advantage to the children would be obtained by continuing the investigation further, then it was perfectly within his case management powers and the
