Z (A Child)

Judgment

MACUR LJ :

This is an appeal against the order of His Honour Judge Oliver, Designated Family Judge for Reading but sitting as a Judge of the High Court for the purpose of confirming a case management order concerning the costs of translating documents served in family public law proceedings. His judgment is expressed as guidance for the purposes of local family courts. He granted permission to appeal the order he made on the basis that the issue “raises a point not previously considered at a higher level.”

The point will inevitably arise in family courts nationwide. The number of family cases necessitating translation services have increased. The costs of translating documents in care proceedings has significant financial impact upon local authorities, privately funded respondent parties, and the Legal Aid Agency.

The relevant case management order in the instant case was first made on 25 June 2015 , apparently without full argument or formal adjudication and in accordance with the judge’s “conventional practice” to direct that translation costs be borne by the party relying upon the document/s concerned. That is, it was ordered that Reading Borough Council:

“… shall be responsible for translating (and meeting the costs of such translation) any documents it serves on the parents in accordance with a court order or any other documents it provides to the parents, provided that the material to be translated is confined to that which it is necessary to translate in order to resolve the proceedings justly”.

Aware that on 14 August 2015, HHJ Lynne Roberts, Designated Family Judge for Essex and Suffolk, had ordered that translation costs be borne by the parents as the parties requiring the translation, (see In the matter of R (A Child) (Translation of Documents in Proceedings) ), Reading Borough Council, applied to vary the case management order made by HHJ Oliver on 25 June, at a further case management hearing on 14 September 2015. Judgment was handed down on 23 August 2016 after the conclusion of the substantive proceedings. [2015] EWFC B112

His Honour Judge Oliver dismissed the local authority’s application to vary the case management order concerning the costs of translating court documents. He maintained that the party ‘relying on’ or ‘producing’ the original document ‘in support of their case’ should bear the burden of its translation.

The Respondent parents to the care proceedings below were Polish nationals, and resided in Poland throu