In my April 2024 blog, I reported on new court rules encouraging those involved in family proceedings to use non-court dispute resolution (NCDR), like mediation, instead of using the court to resolve their disputes.
In a case in May 2024, concerning finances in divorce, NA v LA , Nicholas Allen KC stopped the case to allow NCDR to take place, even though the wife opposed that step. The judge said that in the past court rules to encourage parties to resolve their disputes outside court had been underused. Given the April 2024 rules, this case was a typical example of where the court should use its new powers. “I consider NCDR to be appropriate and I wish to encourage the parties to engage in the same. This would be to their emotional and financial benefit as well as to the benefit of their children”. “Both parties must keep the issue of costs and the proportionality of incurring the same very much at the forefront of their minds”.
The judge referred to the case of X v Y (Financial Remedy: Non-Court Dispute Resolution) [2024] where Gwynneth Knowles J said that those involved in family proceedings must “understand the court’s expectation that a serious effort must be made to resolve their differences before they issue court proceedings and, thereafter, at any stage of the proceedings where this might be appropriate”, and that “at all stages of the proceedings, the court will be active in considering whether non-court dispute resolution is suitable” and that the April 2024 rules “will give an added impetus to the court’s duty in this regard”.