Family Presiding Judge for London issues revised Public Law Practice Note
In a letter dated 30 September 2025, the Family Presiding Judge for London, Mr Justice MacDonald, has issued a revised Public Law Practice Note for London to secure rigorous adherence to the Public Law Outline (PLO). The revisions made to the Practice Note centre on reiterating the test of necessity for both the instruction of expert evidence and the attendance of experts for cross examination at any final hearing. A similar revision is made in respect of controlling the use of intermediaries. Minor changes have also been made with respect to the consequences of default of case management directions. The Practice Note forms part of the wider London Family Justice Strategy. The key objectives of that strategy are to reduce delay in public law proceedings and to deal with the backlog of private law cases, with a view to preparing London for Pathfinder. The Practice Note is designed to maintain rigour in the case management of public law cases. In addition, a programme has been introduced to identify and seek to resolve long running private law cases that are, or can be made, ready for final hearing. The Ministry of Justice has provided funding for additional sitting days for private law and additional courts are sitting at Wandsworth deal with those cases. A pilot project is examining the use of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) case progression officers.