In a bid to help simplify the often awkward and unnecessarily complex language used within the Family Courts, the President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, has announced a new set of Private Law Orders, which are designed to be user friendly.
The Orders relate to the Child Arrangements Programme (CAP), which focuses on disagreements between parents or families about arrangements concerning any children involved. It is hoped that the changes to the orders will make it easier for the growing number of self represented parents (Litigants in Person, LIPs) to understand the process and engage with it.
One of the most exciting aspects of these re-formatted orders is that they are set using templates which, we are told, should allow parents and other parties to leave the court with a copy of the order on the same day. A very welcome development, as orders can often take months to appear.
If you’d like to take a look at the drafts for these orders, you can do so by clicking the first link above (the documents are sitting at the bottom of the Jordans post, and can be downloaded).
What do you think? Are these new forms really user friendly, or do they still leave a lot of questions unanswered for families representing themselves in court?