The High Court (Distribution of Business) Order 2014

Statutory Instruments

2014 No. 3257 (L. 33)

Senior Courts Of England And Wales

The High Court (Distribution of Business) Order 2014

Made

8th December 2014

Laid before Parliament

11th December 2014

Coming into force

6th April 2015

The Lord Chief Justice makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 61(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981(1).

This Order is made with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor in accordance with section 61(3) of the Senior Courts Act 1981 and with the concurrence of the President of the Queen’s Bench Division and of the President of the Family Division in accordance with section 61(5) of that Act.

Citation and commencement

1.  This Order may be cited as the High Court (Distribution of Business) Order 2014 and comes into force on 6th April 2015.

Assignment of business to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court

2.  All applications for writs of habeas corpus, except applications for a writ of habeas corpus for release relating to a minor, are assigned to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court.

Assignment of business to the Family Division of the High Court

3.  All applications for a writ of habeas corpus for release relating to a minor are assigned to the Family Division of the High Court.

Amendments to Schedule 1 to the Senior Courts Act 1981

4.  In Schedule 1 to the Senior Courts Act 1981(2)—

(a) for paragraph 2(a), substitute—

“(a) applications for writs of habeas corpus, except applications for a writ of habeas corpus for release relating to a minor;”; and

(b) in paragraph 3, after sub-paragraph (a) insert—

“(aa) applications for a writ of habeas corpus for release relating to a minor;”.

Thomas of Cwmgiedd

Lord Chief Justice

3rd December 2014

I concur,

Simon Hughes

Minister of State

Ministry of Justice

8th December 2014

I concur,

Sir Brian Leveson

President of the Queen’s Bench Division

3rd December 2014

I concur,

Sir James Munby

President of the Family Division

3rd December 2014

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order assigns to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court all applications for writs of habeas corpus, except applications for a writ of habeas corpus for release relating to a minor, and assigns to Family Division of the High Court all applications for a writ of habeas corpus for release relating to a minor. Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 1 to the Senior Courts Act 1981 (c.54) are amended consequentially.

(1)

1981 c.54. Section 61(3) was amended by paragraph 129(2) of Part 1 of Schedule 4 to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c.4).

(2)

Schedule 1 was amended by section 5 of the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act 1986 (c.16), paragraph 26 of Schedule 1 to the Family Law Act 1986 (c.55), Schedule 4 to the Family Law Reform Act 1987 (c.42), paragraph 28(3) of Schedule 7 to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c.48), paragraph 9 of Schedule 11 and paragraph 45(3) of Schedule 13 to the Children Act 1989 (c.41), paragraph 51 of Schedule 8 to the Family Law Act 1996 (c.27), paragraph 1 of Schedule 12 to the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (c.30), paragraph 70 of Schedule 27 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c.33), paragraph 10 of the Schedule to the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (c.2), paragraph 3 of Schedule 2 to the Childcare Act 2006 (c.21), paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 to the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 (c.20), paragraph 21 of Schedule 6 to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (c.22), section 71 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (c.28), section 28(1) of the Terrorist Asset-Freezing etc Act 2010 (c.38), paragraphs 3 and 4 of Schedule 1 to the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010 (2010 nawm 1), paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 7 to the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 (c.23), paragraph 63 of Schedule 10 to the Crime and Courts Act 2013 (c.22) and by S.I. 1991/1210, 1993/622, 2004/3418, 2005/265 and 2010/1898.