The Judicial Protocol Regulating Direct Judicial Communications Between Scotland, and England and Wales, in Children’s Cases was first published in July 2018, following on from a series of meetings that took place between members of the Scottish and English judiciaries over 2017- 2018. The purpose of the Cross Border conference is to promote better judicial co-operation in childrens cases between England, Wales and Scotland. In 2021 Northern Ireland was invited to join in this co-operation.
Following a review of the working of that Protocol and discussions with the Northern Ireland judiciary, it was agreed that the Protocol be extended to include Northern Ireland and a revised version of the Protocol can be found below.
The 2018 Protocol was supported by supplementary information in the form of a Handbook on family law relating to children in Scotland and in England & Wales, which can also be found below. A supplementary Handbook to include Northern Ireland family law can also be found below.