• contents
• keywords & contacts
• quick guide
• values
• forms library
• contact us
• search

Applications for the discharge of a Care Order and applications for contact with a child in care will be placed before a District Judge who has been allocated from a maintained Her Majesty's Court Service (HMCS) rota for that purpose. The allocated District judge will then convene the allocation hearing before himself at which he will decide whether the case is to be allocated to a District Judge or a Circuit Judge. The decision will take into account any benefit from the matter being placed before the previous trial judge. The file will then be referred to the Designated Family Judge (DFJ) for approval / reallocation.

Applications for care or supervision orders transferred from the Family Proceedings Court shall be dealt with as follows;

Upon being contacted by the Family Proceedings Court (FPC) HMCS will give a date and time to the FPC for the allocation hearing and will name the District Judge who has been allocated from a rota (separate from the rota mentioned above) maintained for that purpose.

At that hearing the District Judge will allocate the case.  Those which meet all or any of the following criteria shall be allocated to the Circuit Judge but those which do not meet any of the criteria shall normally be allocated to the District Judge.

The criteria are:

• Cases where a realistic estimated length of hearing (ELH) appears to be over four days (excluding the time for giving judgment)
• Cases where there are serious allegations of physical or sexual abuse unless the issue is the identity of the actual perpetrator
• Cases involving multiple allegations of sexual or physical abuse
• Alleged shaking cases involving retinal haemorrhages or brain injury.
• Cases with an international element
• Cases involving complex medical issues
• Cases involving contested expert evidence where there is competing expert evidence by two or more experts
• Cases involving suspicious death of a sibling
• Allegations of serious abuse where there are or are likely to be criminal proceedings, issues regarding disclosure of information and public interest immunity
• Novel issues of law or fact to be determined.

If the matter is to be allocated to the District Judge then the Judge who sits at the allocation hearing will retain the case unless the relative case loads amongst the District Bench are such that retention would not be appropriate.

If the matter is allocated to the District Judge then he will make case management directions as he thinks fit and in accordance with the Public Law Outline (PLO).

If the matter is allocated to a Circuit Judge then the District Judge should make directions as to expert evidence in relation to causation but is unlikely to grant any application in relation to other evidence such as that from a psychologist (unless the issue is the level of learning disability and there is unanimity amongst the parties that such evidence is required) or an Independent Social Worker. Such applications should be left for the Circuit Judge and dealt with at the Case Management Conference (CMC).

The identity of the Circuit Judge and the date of the CMC will be made known to the parties by the District Judge, the information having been placed on the file by (HMCS) in advance of the allocation hearing.

The allocation decision will then be reviewed by the Designated Family Judge.

Once allocated, the case will remain with the named Judge. The case will not be listed before any other Judge without consultation with the named Judge. HMCS will ensure that the listing officers maintain judicial continuity.

End