Rules of evidence and procedure after Norman

Though Mrs Norman will not thank anyone for saying this her two unsuccessful recent applications in the Court of Appeal – Norman v Norman [2017] EWCA Civ 49 (Fam) (‘Norman 1’) Norman v Norman [2017] EWCA Civ 120 (Fam) (‘Norman  2’) – have clarified a modest number of areas of family procedural and evidential law.

Mrs Norman had been able to continue litigation over her finances and a 2005 consent order for some eighteen years; or as King LJ said in Norman 2 (at para [4]) she had litigated for more than three times the length of her marriage. The detail of the tortuous route by which she succeeded in having two cases heard in successive months in the Court of Appeal does not matter. It is the significance of the principles examined which apply here namely:

1. Open court principles in family proceedings especially in the Court of Appeal;
2. Res judicata and the rule in Henderson v Henderson; and
3. Finality of litigation and set aside applications (and further review of Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (‘MFPA 1984’) s 31F(6) and Family Procedure Rules 2010...

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