ABSTRACT
The Ancillary Relief Pilot Scheme was introduced by Practice Direction (25 July 1996), which was effective from 1 October 1996. From 21 April 1997, the procedure was governed by rules 2.71-2.77 of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991. The Practice Direction (16 June 1997) explained the rationale of the new scheme, which is very much like the new Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) in its ethos, in that it seeks to: • reduce delay; • facilitate settlements; • limit costs. As with the CPR, the emphasis is very much on litigation as a last resort. The parties have a duty to fulfil the court’s expectations. The court will expect: • parties to make offers and proposals; • recipients of offers and proposals to give them
proper consideration; • that parties, whether separately or together, will
not seek to exclude from consideration at the appointment any such offer or proposal.
