Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce
and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email
editor@familylaw.co.uk.
Set aside and appeals: a ‘procedural quagmire’
© Copyright LexisNexis 2024. All rights reserved.
Family proceedings: material changes of circumstances
Procedural law in the family courts is in a mess where family circumstances change within a short time (say up to a year) after an order or there are circumstances which come to light which make an order appear wrong (non-disclosure fraud mistake) – collectively known by lawyers as ‘supervening events’. The procedural consequences of such material changes of circumstances has been described by Sir James Munby P as a ‘quagmire’ – repeating his words from
L v L [2006] EWHC 956 (Fam) [2008] 1 FLR 26 (at para [39]) – in
CS v ACS (below). Can the court which made the order be asked to put things right? If not can application be made to an appeal court? If so how is this to be done; that is how is the ‘quagmire’ to be forded?
The common factor in all this is that a family court – the...
Read the full article here.
