Family Law

His Honour Judge Martin O'Dwyer and District Judge Edward Hess

With the arrival of the Single Family Court on 22 April 2014 the court at First Avenue House will change its name from the PRFD to the Central Family Court. The President has declared his wish that this court will have "flagship status" as a centre of excellence for "high value and complex financial remedy litigation". Work has already begun to ensure this takes place, in particular the creation of a designated Financial Remedies Unit (FRU). This article publicises the details of a number of new policies and practices to be adopted by judges within the FRU. There will be named and dedicated FRU court officers and a designated email address (to enhance good communications with practitioners and litigants), improved listing policies (designed to bring waiting times down to acceptable levels) and the introduction of a special Accelerated First Appointment Procedure (with the intention of saving costs for litigants where directions are not controversial).

The full version of this article appears in the March 2014 issue of Family Law.

Online subscribers can access the full version of the article here.