ABSTRACT
The Children Act (CA) 1989 provides that the court can make an order under s 8 of the Act in the course of any ‘family proceedings’ whether or not that particular order has been applied for. The term ‘family proceedings’ is defi ned in Part IV of the Family Law Act (FLA) 1996 , at s 63. The Family Justice Review (FJR) proposes that two of the s 8 orders – for residence and contact – should be replaced by a new ‘child arrangements order’, and that parents should preferably be required to work out these arrangements for themselves and only to go to the court if a formal order is required.
