Academy of Experts Contributes to Family Procedure Rules Consultation

In March 2025 the Family Procedure Rule Committee initiated a consultation on proposed changes to the Family Procedure Rules (FPR) and the associated Practice Directions (PD) for experts in family law children proceedings. These changes involve a requirement for an expert witness to be a ‘regulated expert’ which is defined in FPR 25.2

The Academy sought input from members with experience in the relevant areas. Our response notes that the FPC are responding to a range of problems involving unscientific evidence being put forward in family cases, where theories are sometimes advanced without appropriate supporting evidence. In summary we consider the proposed amendments to be adequate, limited as they are to Family Law Children proceedings. We would, however, have preferred the FPR Committee to have addressed the problem of unscientific evidence directly.

The reasoning and recommendations we made are set out in full in our response to the consultation. We are grateful to everyone who contributed.

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