Revised Protocol

The President of the Family Division plans to consult on the revised Protocol on judicial case management in public law children cases. The consultation will be carried out through several forums between June and September 2007. Concurrently, the draft revised protocol will be introduced in seven further local initiatives at court centres in the North East, Oxford/Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Leicester, Warrington, Swansea and Plymouth. Proposed methods of improving the procedure and case management in care proceedings are already being tried out in Cardiff, Hampshire, Liverpool and London. Feedback from both the consultation and the 11 initiative areas will be brought together, with a view to final amendments being made by the end of 2007. Implementation of the revised Protocol is intended to commence in April 2008, which is also the target date for completion of a new set of Family Procedure Rules. For more information see June [2007] Fam Law.