In
Re B (A Child) (Unnecessary Private Law Applications) [2020] EWFC B44HHJ Wildblood QC, in a case with a title that gets straight to the point, has sent a message directed at family lawyers. Its stated targets are parties and lawyers . However, given that litigants generally don t read law reports, it s a safe assumption that practitioners are the target audience and are to carry the message to clients.
It warns of criticisms and sanctions being imposed where unnecessary private law applications are brought to court. Whilst explicitly stating that he is not giving any general guidance and limiting himself to his own DFJ area (he is the DFJ for Bristol), it would not be overly presumptuous to anticipate that most DFJs and members of the judiciary would wholeheartedly agree with his comments.