ABSTRACT
Procedure is a subject seldom taught expressly on undergraduate courses, even those called ‘Family Law and Practice’, or even ‘Family Law and Procedure’. It is nevertheless vital to an understanding of the heavily discretionary nature of family law. The following account is intended to enlighten the student as to how the law works in practice, which often has a profound effect on the statutory content, since there is little reliance on precedent due to the existence and application of the discretions, and the practice which has grown up around the black letter law.
