Financial remedies a pilot scheme now set as and established court service.
Message from the President of the Family Division: The Financial Remedies Courts
24 February 2021 |Family Court|News
I am pleased to announce that the Financial Remedies Courts (FRC) pilot project has now been completed.
This project had its origins in a paper published in November 2016 and was formally initiated as a pilot project by my predecessor in January 2018. The first pilot zone, the West Midlands, started work in April 2018.
The pilot project has been progressively rolled out and is now ‘live’ in 18 FRC zones covering all parts of England and Wales. With the conclusion of the pilot phase, the FRCs should henceforth be regarded as an established and permanent part of the Family Court.
The FRCs will deal with all financial remedy applications, whether arising from divorce, or under the Children Act 1989, Schedule 1, or under the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984, Part 3. It will also deal with all applications for enforcement of financial remedy orders. I am hopeful that in due course legislation will be passed which will allow the FRCs to hear applications under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (TOLATA) and the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
The FRCs have a clearly defined structure. The zones and membership of the courts are set out in a helpful organogram published by the Ministry of Justice. The key governing constitutional documents of the FRCs are the Good Practice Protocol and the document “Overall structure of the Financial Remedies Courts and the role and function of the lead judge”, both dated 7 November 2019.
The zones and their lead judges are set out in the schedule below. The structure is headed by Mostyn J with HHJ Hess as his deputy. I am very grateful to all involved for their hard work in bringing this project to fruition.
In my judgment in Wodehouse v Wodehouse [2018] EWCA Civ 3009 I stated at [56]:
‘I hope that this decision is evidence of the value of creating a Financial Remedies Court – which is currently being piloted – so that only judges who are recognised for their knowledge of, and experience in, financial remedies cases following divorce will, in the future, sit on cases of this type.’
The experience of the pilot project has vindicated my hopes. The FRCs have functioned exceptionally well during the current pandemic. Although there were initial delays and backlogs these have largely been resolved. Almost all hearings are now successfully conducted remotely by video. Electronic bundles are universally used.
Consent orders are now all dealt with online, which has substantially increased efficiency. With effect from 15 February 2021, Forms A are to be issued at the zone hub rather than the regional divorce centre. Allocation will take place immediately and the case will find its way to the right judge in the right place without delay. In about half of the zones it is possible now to issue Form A and to upload all relevant documents online; this will be extended to all the remaining zones in the coming months. I am expecting that online issue and filing will become the standard process before the year is out.
On 8 March 2021, under the auspices of the Judicial College, Peel J will give the inaugural FRC lecture to the FRC judges. I am expecting that this will be the first of many continuing education events that will be offered to FRC’s judges. I am very keen that all of the judges should have their knowledge and experience kept right up-to-date.
I have noted that an increasing number of litigants are choosing to have their FDR conducted privately. I very much welcome this development. Private FDRs appear to have very high rate of success. Their successful use frees up more judicial time for the earlier hearing of those cases that are to be dealt with in court.
The establishment of the FRC has been a success and I am therefore very pleased formally to put the project on a permanent footing within the structure of the Family Court.
Sir Andrew McFarlane
President of the Family Division
Schedule:
ZoneCourts included in the zone lead Judge
London Central Family Court
Barnet
Brentford
Bromley
Croydon
East London Family Court
Edmonton
Kingston
Romford
Uxbridge
Willesden
HHJ Martin O’Dwyer
West Midlands
Birmingham
Coventry
Wolverhampton
Telford
Dudley
Walsall
Stafford
Stoke
Hereford
Worcester
HHJ Robin Rowland
East Midlands
Nottingham
Mansfield
Derby
Chesterfield
Lincoln
Boston
Leicester
Northampton
HHJ Mark Rogers
South East Wales
Newport
Cardiff
Pontypridd
Blackwood
Merthyr Tydfil
HHJ Jonathan Furness QC
Mid and West Wales
Port Talbot
Swansea
Llanelli
Carmarthen
Haverfordwest
Aberystwyth
DJ Susan Bennett
Cheshire & Merseyside
Liverpool
Birkenhead
St Helens
Crewe
Chester
HHJ Andrew Greensmith
Humberside & South Yorkshire
Sheffield
Barnsley
Doncaster
Grimsby
HullHHJ Gordon Shelton
Cleveland,
Newcastle & Durham
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Berwick
Bedlington
Gateshead
North Shields
South Shields
Sunderland
Durham
Darlington
Middlesbrough
DJ Nicola Shaw
North & West Yorkshire
Leeds
Bradford
Harrogate
Huddersfield
Leeds
York
Wakefield
Scarborough
Skipton
DJ Helen Wood(Shortly to be replaced, on the imminent retirement of DJ Wood, by DJ Patrick Troy)
Kent, Surrey & Sussex
Medway
Dartford
Maidstone
Canterbury
Hastings
Brighton
Worthing
Horsham
Guildford
StainesHHJ Stuart Farquhar
Greater Manchester
Manchester
Stockport
Wigan
HHJ Mark Haigh
Norfolk, Essex & Suffolk, and Bedfordshire,
Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire
Peterborough
Cambridge
Bury St Edmunds
Norwich
Ipswich
Chelmsford
Southend
Bedford
Luton
Hertford
Watford
HHJ Liza Gordon- Saker
Thames Valley
Oxford
Reading
Milton Keynes
Slough
HHJ Joanna Vincent
Bristol, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire,
and Bath & North-East
Somerset
Bristol
Gloucester
Swindon
Salisbury
Bath
Weston-Super-Mare
HHJ Stephanie Cope
Dorset & Hampshire
Bournemouth
Weymouth
Winchester
Portsmouth
Southampton
Aldershot
Basingstoke
Isle of Wight
DJ John Bridger
Devon, Cornwall & Somerset
Plymouth
Torquay
Barnstaple
Truro
Bodmin
Taunton
Yeovil
HHJ Paul Mitchell
North Wales
Wrexham
Caernarfon
Prestatyn
Welshpool
DJ Bethan Japheth
Lancashire & Cumbria
Preston
Blackburn
Lancaster
Leyland
Reedley
Barrow in Furness
Carlisle
West CumbriaDJ Susan Brown