Revisions to the Family Process are scheduled to be introduced in January of 2026. The new process contemplates the elimination of Family Docket Court, Early Intervention Case Conferences, changes to the Rule 4.10 Case Conference process as it concerns family law, and changes to the circumstances for which applications will be appropriate. For the remainder of 2025, there is limited availability remaining for Family Special Chambers applications, Early Intervention Case Conferences, and Rule 4.10 Case Conferences in family matters. Such hearings will not be scheduled into 2026. Rather, family disputes will be managed within the Court’s new Family Process.
If there is a need for an urgent hearing in 2026 for matters which are extant and cannot be dealt with by the assigned Mandatory Intake Justice or in the new process, arrangements shall be made with leave of the Chief Justice or an Associate Chief Justice.
Where a streamlined trial is scheduled and a follow up Rule 4.10 Case Conference is required, it may be scheduled in 2026 with the seized Justice. Parties who require a follow-up EICC in 2026 with a Justice who is seized of the matter are permitted to make arrangements with that Justice.
Further details on the new Family Process will be communicated to the family bar at a Town Hall meeting to be scheduled in September 2025. Please monitor the Court’s website for further information.
Matters will continue to be scheduled in Family Docket Court, Family Chambers, and Urgent Matters Chambers as usual until December 19, 2025. Streamlined Trials and Family Trials will also remain available for booking through the usual process during this transition period. Filing in the new Family Law Process is expected to commence in early January 2026, with the first Mandatory Intake Meetings to be set for late January.