Update: Practice Direction on McKenzie Friends extended to Circuit Court
Reading time: 2 minutes
By Lisa Mansfield
6 October, 2017
Following the issuing of a Practice Direction in July 2017 by the Presidents of the High Court and the Court of Appeal to clarify the position of so-called McKenzie Friends, the President of the Circuit Court has now followed suit and issued his own practice direction.
The practice direction was issued on 26 September 2017 and will come into force on 1 October 2017.
While some of the language is slightly rearranged, in substance the practice direction is the same as the direction issued by the Superior Courts in July. It clarifies that while lay litigants may obtain reasonable assistance from their McKenzie Friend, they have no independent right to provide such assistance to the lay litigant. They also have no right of audience, no right to act as advocates or to carry out the conduct of litigation and have no entitlement to payment for their services.
For more information on the dos and don’ts for McKenzie Friends, please see our previous article on McKenzie Friends which can be found here.