FPR rule change consultation begins

www.justice.gov.uk/docs/family-proc-rule...e-comment-281108.pdf
Can we make the process better?
"Foreword by Sir Mark Potter, President of the Family Division of the High Court, Head of Family Justice and Chair of the Family Procedure Rule Committee.
I am pleased to be able to invite your views on the attached draft Family Procedure Rules. The Family Procedure Rule Committee has been working
on these new rules for over two years and this publication contains the drafts of the rules, practice directions and forms as they stand at November 2008.
The volume and quality of the material are testimony to the skill and effort of all those who have contributed over the last two years. Members of the Family Procedure Rule Committee and its various sub committees have invested many hours of their own time hand in hand with a small but dedicated team of officials and drafting lawyers at the Ministry of Justice who have been a constant source of support and drafting expertise.
I am confident that once implemented in 2010, the new rules will significantly improve the current procedural system for Family Justice. Family court procedures will be easier to use and understand, not just for courts and practitioners, but also for individuals who find themselves involved in family proceedings. For the first time there will be a single unified code of practice for family proceedings in the magistrates’ courts, county courts and the High Court."

"This paper is issued by the Family Procedure Rule Committee (“the Committee”). The consultation is aimed at those individuals who use or refer to the family rules of court in England and Wales. It should be read together with the draft Family Procedure Rules (Annex A), the main draft practice directions (Annex B ), key draft forms (Annex C) and draft index of defined expressions (Annex D).This paper contains a number of questions posed by the Committee upon which it would be grateful for responses. The Committee also welcomes comments on all or any parts of the paper, draft rules, practice directions and forms."

[However the main draft practice directions (Annex B ), key draft forms (Annex C) and draft index of defined expressions (Annex D)are not published on the consultation website. Yet ]

Consultation drafts published on 28 November 2008
Responses required by 27 February 2009