The Family Actions Users Group met on 12 June 2024.

Members of the group approved the draft minutes from the meeting of 19 March.

They then considered data on the family court diary and agreed that this should be provided at all future meetings.

At the previous meeting, the family judges raised the matter of time estimates for proofs and invited discussion on how best to work towards accuracy when allocating proof diets. At this meeting, Lady Carmichael noted that since that discussion, practitioners had paid greater consideration to timings, including at pre-proof hearings. Members agreed that this should become a standing item.

Lord Stuart provided an update on a project to further facilitate the use of electronic productions and affidavits for proofs and other substantive hearings. Again members agreed that this should be a standing item. The family judges agreed to consider developing some form of guidance as to their preferences for formatting productions.

In addition, further to a request for clarity at the last meeting, Yvonne Anderson highlighted that the appropriate contact point for solicitors seeking access to Court of Session Wi-Fi was the Law Society’s Member Registration inbox: Member.registration@lawscot.org.uk.