If My New Partner Is In His Final Year Of His Law Degree Can He Sit In On My Family Court Hearing????

[est1976]

If my new partner is in his final year of his law degree can he sit in on my family court hearing (ex is on the sex offenders list and violent). This has been going on for years and is just experience for him within the high court ???

[Barmaid]

Family court hearings are normally in private. You can ask to have a Mackenzie friend with you (ie an unqualified person to assist - but your partner does not have rights of audience at all), but it is quite likely that the Court will take the view that his presence will not assist the proceedings.

I have rights of audience in Court, and am regularly in Court with my partner. However, I never go into the Court room as it would be inappropriate under the circumstances.

[EDDIE51]

My daughter is going through a family court process now . Each of the 2 sides is allowed only 1 person with them . My daughter has a solicitor and the father has a MacKenzie friend, no one else is allowed in the room (apart from the magistrates and officials of course) not even me though she has asked if I can be present. So the answer to your question is No .

[tonywiltshire]

As has been said your Partner has no right of Audience, which is the right of an advocate to be heard in legal proceedings. Barristers have the right of audience in all courts and traditionally solicitors only had the right of audience in the County and Magistrates court but now this can be extended to the higher courts, in some tribunals there are no rules concerning the rights of audience. Your new partner may be admitted to the court as a McKenzie friend (from McKenzie v McKenzie 1970) to guide and assist you but this would be at the discretion of the court and he would not be permitted to address the court, the fact that he is a law student would be irrelevant.

[New Judge]

As has been pointed out, your partner can sit in court with you as a “McKenzie Friend”. There are more restrictions on this practice in the family court than in a criminal court but this practice guidance provides the details:

http://courtwithoutalawyer.co.uk/mckenzie%20friends%20practice%20guidance%202010.pdf

You will note in particular paragraph 9:

“Where proceedings are in closed court, i.e. the hearing is in chambers, is in private, or the proceedings relate to a child, the litigant is required to justify the MF’s presence in court. The presumption in favour of permitting a MF to attend such hearings, and thereby enable litigants to exercise the right to assistance, is a strong one. “

If you read all this guidance you will see that there is no blanket restriction on McKenzie friends in family proceedings but that the interests of justice must prevail.

On a wider note, the idea of a McKenzie Friend in court is to assist you, not to assist your partner with his studies. You should consider this aspect carefully before seeking permission to have an MF present.