Finalised Practice Direction for Case Management Pilot published

The finalised Case Management Pilot Practice Direction has been published in advance of the scheme coming into operation on 1 September 2016.

A version was first released in March 2016 (see previous story) so as  to allow practitioners to prepare for a significant change in case management practice.

As a reminder, the pilot scheme sets out three case management pathways for CoP proceedings:

1. a Property and Affairs pathway
2. a Health and Welfare pathway,
3. a hybrid pathway for cases that have elements of both Property and Health.

IN the PD's words the pilot Practice Direction will

"place an obligation on applicants to provide improved analysis of the issues at the start of a case, allowing for more robust case management decisions to be taken at the outset and all issues to be identified at the earliest opportunity in proceedings. It will also seek to encourage early resolution of cases, to reduce the number and length of hearings required in contested cases and to promote judicial continuity."

The pilot is expected to run for up to 12 months.

You can download the final version of the Practice Direction on the HMCTS website here.

A separate pilot Practice Direction dealing with reports commissioned under section 49 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 will also commence in June and is also available on the link above.