Price v Price [2014] EWCA Civ 655, [2014] All ER (D) 28 (Jun)
The proceedings concerned an application for divorce by the wife. Consideration was given to the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010).
The husband submitted that the provisions of Rule 4.6 FPR 2010, which set out the circumstances where relief from sanctions might be available, ought to have been taken into account. The wife, while agreeing that the FPR 2010 was relevant, submitted that the judge had not needed to refer to it explicitly, and that his decision had sufficiently taken its provisions into account.
The Court of Appeal held that a judge had to have regard to r 4.6 FPR 2010, but that did not remove the force of the old authorities. The decision to be taken involved an amalgam of procedural rules and authorities. A consideration of an application to have a certificate set aside and for leave to file an answer out of time would therefore require a consideration of all of the circumstances of the case, including those spelled out in r 4.6 FPR 2010 as were relevant. It would also