There had been several hearings and the father had been assisted by a McKenzie friend permitted to address the court. The father now objected to the mother’s McKenzie friend being given similar leave.
Held: Whilst Dr Pelling might make a preliminary argument on the point in chambers, if decided in his favour, the full point would require argument in open court where Dr Pelling would be unable to continue. ‘A McKenzie friend does not, as such, have a right of audience and . . the court can exercise its discretion to grant a McKenzie friend a right of audience in accordance with section 27(2)(c) of the 1990 Act ‘only . . for good reason’ and in the light of and bearing in mind the ‘general objective’ set out in section 17(1) of the Act and the ‘general principle’ set out in section 17(3). ‘ The court should be ‘very slow’ to grant a McKenzie friend a right of audience, but this is not to say that, as a general principle, such an order can be made only in ‘exceptional’ circumstances.
Circumstances differed. A ‘professional’ McKenzie friend should be allowed to appear only in exceptional circumstances, but a friend of the party will be given greater leeway. This case fell in between. ‘One also has to bear in mind . . the reality that legal aid is not available as readily as it was in the past, leading . . to the growth of litigants in person in all levels of family court.’
Though the case did not discuss anything of the private lives of the parties, it remained anonymised. The purpose of the proceedings was to put an end to the difficulties which had faced the child.
Munby J
[2008] EWHC 2042 (Fam), [2008] Fam Law 1093, [2008] 3 FCR 642, [2008] 2 FLR 1899, [2008] 1 WLR 2743
Bailii
Children Act 1989 8, Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 27
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – D v S (Rights of Audience); In re and Application by Dr Pelling CA 18-Dec-1996
The court said that the representation of a litigant in person by a charging non-professional must be only exceptional. . .
Cited – President’s Guidance: McKenzie Friends FD 14-Apr-2008
‘A court may grant an unqualified person a right of audience in exceptional circumstances and after careful consideration. If the litigant in person wishes the MF to be granted a right of audience or the right to conduct the litigation, an . .
Cited – Guidance (McKenzie Friends) 2005
Sir Mark Potter gave guidance on the acceptance of McKenzie Friends as advocates: ‘A court may grant an unqualified person a right of audience in exceptional circumstances only and only after careful consideration (D v S (Rights of Audience) [1997] . .
Cited – Milne v Kennedy and Others CA 28-Jan-1999
Only in exceptional circumstances, should a lay person be allowed to represent a party in a county court. In this case no such exceptional circumstance had been established, and the decision was not to be upheld. . .
Cited – Clarkson v Gilbert and others CA 14-Jun-2000
The court considered the restrictions on lay representatives appearing in court as the related to relatives of the party.
Held: The same objections to granting rights of audience did not apply to a husband who merely wished to assist his wife . .
Cited – Mensah v Islington Council and Another CA 1-Dec-2000
Permission was sought for a McKenzie friend to address the court. Peter Gibson LJ said: ‘In accordance with the overriding objective of the CPR and to avoid the waste of today’s hearing, attended as this court had earlier directed, by counsel for . .
Cited – Noueiri v Paragon Finance Plc (Practice Note) CA 19-Sep-2001
Courts should be careful before allowing unqualified persons to represent other parties at court. Pleadings and similar documents must be signed by the party or their qualified legal representative. Others signing them may be in contempt of court . .
Cited – In re D (A Child) CA 15-Mar-2005
Application to allow representation by a solicitor who was presently struck off the roll denied. . .
Cited by:
Cited – Kennedy v Kennedy CA 24-Jun-2009
The parties, both English, met and married and made a life in Spain. They had two children. The mother brought the children back to the UK on the breakdown of the marriage. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Children, Legal Professions, Human Rights
Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.272794
