The
Committee consisted of the following
Members:
Chair:
†Jim
Dobbin
†
Baron,
Mr John (Basildon and Billericay)
(Con)
†
Crockart,
Mike (Edinburgh West)
(LD)
†
Dakin,
Nic (Scunthorpe)
(Lab)
†
Djanogly,
Mr Jonathan (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for
Justice)
Donaldson,
Mr Jeffrey M. (Lagan Valley)
(DUP)
†
Flello,
Robert (Stoke-on-Trent South)
(Lab)
†
Harris,
Rebecca (Castle Point)
(Con)
†
Huppert,
Dr Julian (Cambridge)
(LD)
Kaufman,
Sir Gerald (Manchester, Gorton)
(Lab)
†
Macleod,
Mary (Brentford and Isleworth)
(Con)
Poulter,
Dr Daniel (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
(Con)
†
Reynolds,
Jonathan (Stalybridge and Hyde)
(Lab/Co-op)
†
Stephenson,
Andrew (Pendle)
(Con)
Stuart,
Ms Gisela (Birmingham, Edgbaston)
(Lab)
†
Vickers,
Martin (Cleethorpes)
(Con)
†
Watkinson,
Angela (Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty's
Treasury)
†
Watts,
Mr Dave (St Helens North)
(Lab)
†
Wood,
Mike (Batley and Spen)
(Lab)
Simon Patrick, Committee
Clerk
† attended the
Committee
Second
Delegated Legislation
Committee
Tuesday 22
March
2011
[Jim
dobbin
in the
Chair]
Draft
Access to Justice Act 1999 (Destination of Appeals) (Family
Proceedings) Order
2011
The
Chair:
Before I call the Minister, may I suggest to
members that the debate relates to the proposed arrangements, and the
merits of the rules are not for
debate.
10.30
am
The
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Mr Jonathan
Djanogly):
I beg to move,
That the
Committee has considered the draft Access to Justice Act 1999
(Destination of Appeals) (Family Proceedings) Order
2011.
The
Chair:
With this it will be convenient to consider the
draft Family Procedure (Modification of Enactments) Order
2011.
Mr
Djanogly:
Good morning, Mr. Dobbin.
The statutory
instruments are necessary to support the implementation of the Family
Procedure Rules 2010, which will come into force on 6 April. The rules
were made as provided for in the Courts Act 2003. That Act gives power
for new rules to be made for all family proceedings, with a view to
securing a family justice system that is accessible, fair and efficient
and that the rules are both simple and simply expressed. With these
requirements in mind, the family procedure rule committee—the
body established to make the rules—and the Ministry of Justice
have developed a set of rules to cover all family proceedings in the
High Court, the county courts and the family proceedings courts. The
new rules will bring a number of benefits, including modernisation of
some language, a single unified code of practice for all family courts
and, where appropriate, harmonisation of the procedure in family
proceedings with the provisions of the civil procedure
rules.
Family
procedure rules dealing with adoption proceedings were introduced in
2005 and, from 6 April this year, the family procedure rules 2010 will
extend the new approach to all family proceedings.
The two
statutory instruments we are discussing today are important to ensure
that the new rules can come fully into force on the appointed day and
that other enactments will refer appropriately to those rules from that
date. I hope that the Committee will support their approval. I will
take each instrument in turn.
The Family
Procedure (Modification of Enactments) Order makes amendments to Acts
of Parliament and to secondary legislation in consequence of the coming
into force of the Family Procedure Rules 2010. For example, article 12
of the order amends the Magistrates Courts Act 1980 to give power to
the magistrates courts to order disclosure of documents in family
proceedings.
This will align the powers of the magistrates courts in this area with
those of the High Court and county courts, and means that the
provisions in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 relating to disclosure of
documents can apply to all courts dealing with family
proceedings.
The
order also amends various enactments which currently refer to rules
which are to be superseded by the Family Procedure Rules 2010. This
means that from 6 April 2011, those enactments will refer to the 2010
rules, or to specific provisions within
them.
The
draft Access to Justice Act 1999 (Destination of Appeals) (Family
Proceedings) Order makes various minor amendments to the routes of
appeal. It replaces some provisions in existing rules which would
otherwise be lost as those rules are replaced, and consolidates them
with provisions from an existing destination of appeals order so that
the routes of appeal in family proceedings are dealt with in one place.
It provides that appeals from decisions made by a district judge of a
county court will lie to a judge of that court, and that appeals from
decisions made by a district judge of the High Court, a district judge
of the principal registry of the family division or a costs judge will
lie to a judge of the High Court.
The two
statutory instruments are important to make it possible for the new
family procedure rules to be brought fully into force, and to ensure
that other legislation is properly amended in consequence of the coming
into force of those rules. I therefore commend these two draft orders
to the
Committee.
10.34
am
Robert
Flello (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab):
I welcome you to the
Chair this morning, Mr.
Dobbin.
These
are two important statutory instruments. The official Opposition could
hardly object to them, as they relate to measures that we introduced as
the Labour Government. They are a means of consolidating and
simplifying the rules under the Family Procedure Rules 2010. I shall
put a couple of questions to the Minister in a moment, but it is
important to note that the two orders are very much of a technical
nature and put in place the final pieces of the family procedure rules,
which come into effect in only a few weeks. I noticed earlier an
official with a heavy and well-thumbed copy of the 2010 rules, which I
am sure that practitioners up and down the country are studying
carefully. They will be keen to see that these orders get on to the
statute book, so that they know the precise
lay-out.
I
turn to the first of my two questions to the Minister. As I have said,
it is only a few weeks until the Family Procedure Rules 2010 come into
effect. Is he confident that, if these instruments are approved this
morning, all the pieces are now in place for 6 April? Are all the
necessary statutory instruments, changes and consolidations now in
place to ensure that the rules can be used properly, and that
practitioners will not have to be concerned about gaps in the
legislation? Of course, the whole point of the rules and how they have
been put together is to allow a much easier and more efficient means of
updating and improving them in the years ahead.
My second
question relates to feedback from practitioners about the impact. The
Minister has helpfully stated that he does think there will be an
impact on businesses,
charities and voluntary bodies involved in family proceedings. Has he
had any further feedback about the measures before us, or, more
generally, about the Family Procedure Rules 2010? Are all the processes
and forms in place to make sure that the rules can be delivered, and
that the impact will not be too great but can be managed so that
practitioners can ensure that the courts provide—and, more
important, that the families, the users of those courts, have—a
proper, streamlined and more efficient service, but without imposing
great cost on businesses, charities and voluntary bodies?
I have
nothing further to add. We have no objections to these statutory
instruments this morning, but I would welcome the Minister’s
comments.
10.37
am
Mr
Djanogly:
I can confirm that we have put in place all
necessary provisions to ensure that family proceedings will be dealt
with under the new family procedure rules. I can report back to the
hon. Gentleman that the rules
have generally, if not universally, been welcomed by the professions and
by those involved in family law, and that, generally speaking, there
has been no adverse reaction to these proposals.
The two
statutory instruments are necessary for the new rules to come into
force and to ensure that other legislation is properly amended. I ask
the Committee to support them, so that the full benefits of the Family
Procedure Rules 2010 can now be
realised.
Question
put and agreed
to.
Resolved,
That
the Committee has considered the draft Family Procedure (Modification
of Enactments) Order 2011.—(Mr
Djanogly.)
10.39
am
Committee
rose.
