Family Courts

If you are the person who has made an application to the court for an order, you are known as the applicant.

What happens first?

You and/or your advocate will be asked to attend court for an initial court hearing, usually lasting about 10 minutes. This is known as a directions hearing.

If your application is about the welfare of a child(ren), then the court will usually send a copy of your application to the court welfare office, asking that an officer attends the court hearing.

Do I have to attend the initial/directions hearings?

If you do not have an advocate, then you must attend the hearings on the dates and times specified by the court. You may not have to attend all the hearings if you are legally represented and your advocate is happy for you not to. You will be required to attend any final hearing.

What do I do when I get to court?

When you arrive at the courthouse you will have to go through security.

You and/or your advocate should then notify reception that you have arrived. Reception staff will tell you which courtroom your case is in and where to wait.

When it is time to go into court you will be called.

Who can come into the court?

• you and/or your advocate

• the respondent and/or their advocate

• the Deemster

• the court clerk

• a Guardian ad Litem (if appointed)

• the court welfare officer (if required).

How should I behave in court?

Please switch off or silence your mobile phone or pager before coming into the courtroom. Items such as video cameras, tape recorders, radios or other electronic equipment are not allowed in the courtroom.

Family courts are closed (in chambers) hearings. When you are in court you may remain seated when addressing the judge. You must be polite at all times, never shout or use vulgar expressions and never interrupt other people when they are speaking. It is important you remain calm, everyone will have their turn to speak. If you speak out of turn, or are rude to the judge you may be held in contempt of court.

If you wish to hand any documents to the judge you must ask for permission. You must then hand them to the court clerk who will then pass them to the judge.

What do I call the judge?

If a Deemster is dealing with your case he/she is addressed as Your Honour

If a judicial officer is dealing with your case he/she is addressed as Sir or Ma'am

The hearing

At the end of the directions hearing, the court will tell you what further steps need to be taken before the next hearing date. There may be several directions hearings before the case is set down for a full and final hearing.

Any orders made by the judge will be sent to you or your advocate. You and the other party may be able to come to an agreement, if you do the judge will make a final order, bringing the application to an end.

When the court has all the information it needs, you will be given a date for your final hearing. These can last a few hours to several days depending on the type of application and the number of witnesses asked to appear.

The final hearing

You must attend the final hearing. The respondent's advocate may ask you, and any witnesses who have been asked to appear on your behalf, any questions they wish.

If you do not have an advocate, you will be allowed to ask the other party, and any witnesses, any questions you wish. In cases involving the welfare of children, the court welfare officer will also be asked to give their evidence.

Once all the evidence has been given to the court, you or your advocate, will summarise the main points of your argument. This is known as 'summing up'. If the matter is simple the Deemster will retire to consider his/her decision, and you will be asked to wait or come back at a later time. He will then give his decision.

Judgment

Once an order is made it will be sent to you and/or your advocate. If it is a long or complex matter, the Deemster may delay making his/her decision to a future date so as to allow him/her more time to make the final judgment. This can take several weeks.

Once the written reasons for judgment have been completed and sent out to all the parties, you and/or your advocate will be asked to come to court to hear the final judgment. This is usually one or two days after you have received a copy.

Fully de-personalised written judgments may be published on Judgments Online at the discretion of the judge.

Please be aware that, under section 27(4) of the High Court Act 1991, all court proceedings are digitally recorded. For further information please refer to our In-Court Technology section.

The respondent is the person against whom an order has been applied for by the applicant.

Do I have to attend the initial/directions hearings?

If you do not have an advocate, then you must attend the hearings on the dates and times specified by the court. If you are legally represented then you may not have to attend all the hearings if your advocate is happy for you not to. However, you will be required to attend any final hearing.

What do I do when I get to court?

When you arrive at the courthouse you will have to go through security.

You and/or your advocate should then notify reception that you have arrived. Reception staff will tell you which courtroom your case is in and where to wait.

When it is time to go into court you will be called.

Who will be in court?

As family courts are 'closed' and as such members of the public will not be permitted to sit in the public gallery. Only the following people will be present in court:

• you and/or your advocate

• the applicant and/or their advocate

• the Deemster

• the court clerk

• a Guardian ad Litem (if appointed)

• the court welfare officer (if required).

If you would like to have another person in court with you, then you may ask the Deemster's permission. You must be aware that there is no automatic right for you to have a 'friend' in the court with you. If the Deemster allows you to have a 'friend' in court they will not be allowed to talk on your behalf.

How should I behave in court?

Please switch off or silence your mobile phone or pager before coming into the courtroom. Items such as video cameras, tape recorders, radios or other electronic equipment are not allowed in the courtroom.

Family courts are closed (in chambers) hearings. When you are in court you may remain seated when addressing the judge. You must be polite at all times, never shout or use vulgar expressions and never interrupt other people when they are speaking. It is important you remain calm, everyone will have their turn to speak. If you speak out of turn, or are rude to the judge you may be held in contempt of court.

If you wish to hand any documents to the judge you must ask for permission. you must then hand them to the court clerk who will then pass them to the judge.

What do I call the judge?

If a Deemster is dealing with your case he/she is addressed as Your Honour

If a Judicial Officer is dealing with your case he/she is addressed as Sir or Ma'am

The Hearing

At the end of the directions hearing, the court will tell you what further steps need to be taken before the next hearing date. There may be several directions hearings before the case is set down for a full and final hearing.

Any orders made by the judge will be sent to you or your advocate. You and the other party may be able to come to an agreement, if you do the judge will make a final order, bringing the application to an end.

When the court has all the information it needs, you will be given a date for your final hearing. These can last a few hours to several days depending on the type of application and the number of witnesses asked to appear.

The final hearing

You must attend the final hearing. The applicant's advocate may ask you, and any witnesses who have been asked to appear on your behalf, any questions they wish.

If you do not have an advocate, you will be allowed to ask the other party, and any witnesses, any questions you wish. In cases involving the welfare of children, the court welfare officer will also be asked to give their evidence.

Once all the evidence has been given to the court, you or your advocate, will summarise the main points of your argument. This is known as 'summing up'. If the matter is simple the Deemster will retire to consider his/her decision, and you will be asked to wait or come back at a later time. He will then give his decision.

Judgment

Once an order is made it will be sent to you and/or your advocate. If it is a long or complex matter, the Deemster may delay making his/her decision to a future date so as to allow him/her more time to make the final judgment. This can take several weeks.

Once the written reasons for judgment have been completed and sent out to all the parties, you and/or your advocate will be asked to come to court to hear the final judgment. This is usually one or two days after you have received a copy.

Fully de-personalised written judgments may be published on Judgments Online at the discretion of the judge.

Please be aware that, under section 27(4) of the High Court Act 1991, all court proceedings are digitally recorded. For further information please refer to our In-Court Technology section.

If you are called as a witness in a family case it may mean that you:

• are a party to the case

• have seen or heard something in connection with the case; 

• have information about someone who is a party to the case.

What do I do when I get to court?

When you arrive at the courthouse you will have to pass through security.

You should then report to the courthouse reception. The receptionist will tell you which courtroom your case is in and where to wait.

When it is time to go into court you will be called.

Who will be in the court?

As family courts are 'closed' and as such no members of the public will be permitted to sit in the public gallery. The only people who will be present in the courtroom are:

• the Deemster

• the applicant and respondent

• advocates

• the court usher

• the court clerk

• a Guardian ad Litem (if appointed)

• the court welfare officer (if required).

How should I behave in court?

Please switch off or silence your mobile phone or pager before coming into the courtroom. Items such as video cameras, tape recorders, radios or other electronic equipment are not allowed in the courtroom.

Family courts are closed (in chambers) hearings. When you are in court you may remain seated when addressing the judge. You must be polite at all times, never shout or use vulgar expressions and never interrupt other people when they are speaking. It is important you remain calm, everyone will have their turn to speak. If you speak out of turn, or are rude to the judge you may be held in contempt of court.

If you wish to hand any documents to the judge you must ask for permission. You must then hand them to the court clerk who will then pass them to the judge.

What do I call the judge?

If a Deemster is dealing with your case then he/she is addressed as Your Honour

If a Judicial Officer is dealing with your case then he/she is addressed as Sir or Ma'am

The hearing

You will be asked to say what you saw/heard so that the court can build up a picture of what happened and reach a decision.

When you are asked to give your evidence the court clerk will bring you into the courtroom and ask you to stand in the witness box.

You must be sworn in before you give your evidence. To do this you will be asked to take the oath, which you can take on a Holy Book of your religion, or you can affirm (promise) to tell the truth. The court clerk will usually check with you before court which one you want to do. You must read the oath or affirmation aloud. If you have any problems with reading it the court clerk will read it to you to repeat back.

You will then be asked a series of questions by the party, or the advocate, who has asked you to be a witness on their behalf. Once they have finished then the other party or their advocate will also ask you a series of questions.

The first party or advocate will then be given an opportunity to ask further questions. Finally the Deemster may ask you any questions if he wants to.

After you have finished giving your evidence, the Deemster will let you know if you can leave the courthouse or whether you might be called back to give further evidence later on in the hearing. If you are not needed you will be free to leave the building. You may not remain in the courtroom.

Please be aware that, under section 27(4) of the High Court Act 1991, all court proceedings are digitally recorded. For further information please refer to our In-Court Technology section.