how much notice should be given for a hearing?

Hi Liz,
As far as I am aware there is no time limit as to when you can be called into court for a hearing.
I needed to have a contact order enforced and went to the court in the morning, was given a "notice to attend" by the judge and told to deliver it to my ex's solicitors by 2pm the same day.
It ordered her to be in court by 3.30pm.
By 4pm the order was enforced and the judge assured her that he would lock her up immediately if she didn't reinstate contact by 5.30 pm, which she did.

The minimum time that should be given for Section 8 applications is 21 days (Family Proceedings Rules 1991, Section 4.4, www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1991/Uksi_19911247_...dix3noticerespondent). It is the applicant's responsibility to give you notice, rather than the court's.

You also need to to look at Rule 10.6 which concerns serving notice outside the UK. I imagine - but can't confirm - that the 21 days is from receipt rather than posting. You need to check this with a lawyer.

Also note that under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights you must be given 'adequate time'.

Tom, that is because an order to abridge time for service would have been made, which means the court can override the normal time for service requirement and set its own. It is rare for this to be less than 24 hours, but it can be.

birdy123 wrote:

Tom, that is because an order to abridge time for service would have been made, which means the court can override the normal time for service requirement and set its own. It is rare for this to be less than 24 hours, but it can be.

The reason my ex was ordered into court at a few hours notice was because it was on a Friday and I was taking my daughter on holiday the next morning.
My ex had decided to try to ruin the holiday as she had the previous year but didn't succeed this time.
Due to this incident I didn't think there was actually a set amount of notice of attendance and assumed it was up to the judge at any given time depending on the case.

Hi,

I've just done one of these with my ex and because i was acting as lip i asked the court about timescales. The admin manager has told me that as the enforcement is for child contact reinstatement etc and delays can be harmful to the child they are dealt with and scheduled as a priority and will always be held with in a couple of weeks maximum.

It was 10 days on mine between paying the fee and it being listed and they weren't interested in my ex's excuses as they are used to hostile respondents in these cases.


T