Royal Court of Jersey
FD21/03
Practice Direction (Family Division)
Evidence and Submissions
Limiting
Evidence
1.
In line with
the overriding objectives under Rule 47 of the Matrimonial Causes Rules 2005
and Rule 4 of the Children Rules 2005 (the "Overriding Objectives"),
the court must deal with cases justly, and actively manage cases. Active
management includes regulating the extent of disclosure and expert evidence,
but, furthermore, includes limiting written evidence unless the court is
satisfied that such evidence serves the applicable Overriding Objective.
2.
Parties should
not file or serve documentation unless permitted to do so by act of court, law,
rule or by practice direction and in furtherance of that principle, parties
should not seek disproportionate or unnecessary disclosure. This is to ensure
that the parties do not incur avoidable costs and that the documentation which
is produced for the purposes of hearings is relevant and concise and that every
effort is made to reduce the emotional and financial costs of disputes on the
parties and the children whose interests concern the court.
3.
By way of
example:-
3.1
parties are
expected to limit the number of requests for further information or
documentation to those which are reasonable and proportionate to the dispute;
written requests for parties to explain or justify spending of sums which are
de minimis in the context of the case concerned should be avoided;
3.2
parties should
not make written requests for further information and documentation which put
their own case or contain questions more properly put in cross-examination;
3.3
parties should
not serve or file evidence or documentation unless specifically required to do
so by the court;
3.4
the court is
unlikely to wish to see inter partes
correspondence produced at, or in advance of, hearings unless, for example, the
court has agreed that costs issues are to be determined;
3.5
save in
exceptional circumstances, the court is unlikely to want to see, for example,
copies of electronic messages between the parties or recordings of telephone or
video calls unless, for example, the
welfare of a child requires the court to consider such evidence.
Content of Evidence
and Correspondence
4.
The court is
bound by the Overriding Objectives to ensure that distress to all parties is
minimised. While the court readily acknowledges that advocates are bound to act
in the best interests of their clients, and will wish to represent their
clients firmly and fairly, best interests rarely mean that advocates should
descend into unpleasant and personal
exchanges which do little to foster the spirit of compromise.
5.
Good family
practice means that parties owe the
other party and the court a positive duty to avoid making unjustifiable and
inflammatory comments, threats or allegations in court or in correspondence, as
these serve only to increase the temperature, making settlement less likely,
increasing costs and potentially causing emotional harm to children by
provoking avoidable conflict. Language
used should be moderate and emotive language should be avoided at all costs.
This Practice Direction will come into force with immediate effect.
14 July 2021