NCDR rule changes nine months on – where are we now?

Bethany Scarsbrook, Barrister, St John’s Chambers

Six months on from the implementation of changes to FPR rules surrounding NCDR, this article takes the opportunity to reflect holistically on: the aims of the changes; whether they have helped or hindered the wider objectives of the Family Court; and any present identifiable impact.

It will be argued that, regrettably, the NCDR changes have exacerbated the growing division of financial remedy proceedings into a two-tier system: one where there is one experience for the ultra high-net worth (UHNW) individuals, and a very different one for all other parties who find themselves in these proceedings. Far from having brought a more unified approach, challenges with funding for NCDR, combined with concerns that the delay can be used to perpetrate abuse through proceedings, has created a starker divide. Not only is such privatisation of financial disputes through the back door unpalatable in its own right, but the difference in options available to most divorcing couples as opposed to HNW litigants flies in the face of the Rule of Law.

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