At Children in the Middle we aim to make the family court more accessible to parents by explaining legal terms.
A legal term you may or may not have heard of is Part 25 application.
The Family Procedure Rules are the procedural rules of the family court.
Part 25 addresses how the court will use an expert in a court case. Here is a link to those rules:
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/parts/part_25
For cases between parents about the care of their children, the most common experts to instruct are independent social workers or psychologists.
Generally speaking in the family court, Judges only want one expert to be instructed by the parties. Judges do not like each party having their own expert and then those experts giving different evidence to the court.
These rules therefore set out how the parties instruct one expert. That one expert’s overriding duty is to the court, not to any of the parties. The expert should therefore be independent.
In a case about the care of a child (what are called ‘private law’ cases), you will need to apply for permission jointly to instruct an expert by sending to the court a C2 application form. The form needs to include the reasons why you want the expert to be jointly instructed, their predicted costs, CV and timescale. You should also attach a draft order and draft letter of instruction.
If you are in need of legal advice in respect of a case about the care of your children, please get in touch with us at office@citmchambers.co.uk or phone us on 0117 214 1797.