New Draft FPR 25.5A Requiring Regulated Experts in Family Children Proceedings
Summary
The Family Procedure Rule Committee is consulting on new FPR 25.5A which would require any expert instructed in family law children proceedings to be regulated. The consultation also includes amendments to FPR 25.2 and Practice Directions 25B and 25C. The definition of a regulated expert would be inserted into FPR 25.2. The consultation closed on 6 June 2025.
What changed
The Family Procedure Rule Committee proposes new FPR 25.5A to mandate that any expert instructed in family law children proceedings must be regulated by their governing body. The definition of a regulated expert would be inserted into FPR 25.2. Certain exceptions would apply as specified in the new rule. Amendments to Practice Directions 25B and 25C accompany these proposed changes.
Affected parties including expert witnesses, legal professionals, and courts involved in family law children proceedings should monitor the outcome of this consultation. If enacted, the rules would require parties to ensure any expert they instruct meets the new regulatory definition, with compliance dependent on the expert's adherence to standards set by their governing body.
What to do next
- Review the draft FPR 25.5A requiring regulation of experts in family children proceedings
- Submit consultation response by the deadline of 6 June 2025
- Examine proposed amendments to Practice Directions 25B and 25C
Archived snapshot
Apr 16, 2026GovPing captured this document from the original source. If the source has since changed or been removed, this is the text as it existed at that time.
Closed consultation
Family Procedure Rules: new draft 25.5A, changes to 25.2 and practice directions 25B and 25C
From: Family Procedure Rule Committee Published 14 March 2025 Get emails about this page
Applies to England and Wales
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Summary
The Family Procedure Rule Committee is consulting publicly on new Family Procedure Rule (FPR) 25.5A concerning the instruction of unregulated experts. The consultation also includes amendments to FPR 25.2 and Practice Directions (PDs) 25B and 25C.
This consultation ran from
**
9am on 14 March 2025
to
5pm on 6 June 2025
**
Consultation description
The Committee’s aim is that new FPR 25.5A should require any expert instructed in family law children proceedings to be regulated. This will be subject to some exceptions found within the new FPR 25.5A. The definition of a regulated expert is included in the amendments to FPR 25.2.
A key purpose of these changes is to ensure that any expert instructed in family law children proceedings has the appropriate skills and qualifications on which to base their expert evidence. A regulated expert pursuant to the new definition to be inserted in FPR25.2 must adhere to the standards set by their governing body.
Given the interest in this area and the practical implications for parties, the Committee has decided to consult publicly on the draft new FPR 25.5A and the amendments to FPR25.2, PD25B and PD25C.
The new and amended FPR and PDs can be found on this page alongside a document which provides more information about this consultation and how to submit responses.
The deadline for this response is 6 June 2025.
Documents
Consultation on the standards required for expert witnesses: proposed Practice Direction changes
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Unregulated experts FPRC update: draft FPR 25.5A and amendments to FPR 25.2, PD 25B and PD 25C
PDF, 108 KB, 11 pages
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