[Solved] What is a Dispute Resolution Appointment?

Northern guy,

1626 has summarised the procedures well, so there\'s no point me going over that again.

I remember you saying you missed the last hearing date, so you have been set this one that is coming up soon. The point of the hearing is decide the direction of the case. You have a cafcass report of some kind, so there will be recommendations in there of some form too.

Really then at this stage, you need to have it clear in your mind what you are asking of the court. To that end make sure you have a position statement drafted and ready to take to court with you on the day of the hearing. You can hand one to the court usher to give to the judge. You can give one to your ex\'s solicitor too. Have one spare too. It\'s extremely important that you set out your \"position\" to the judge, as well as having it clear in your mind too to aid you on the day.

The judge will consider what both parties are asking for, and if no agreement can be reached on the day between the two parties, then he/she could order a contested hearing in which the issues can be resolved.

If you do go to a final hearing, my personal opinion is prepare the bundle yourself if you feel confident in doing it. I say that because it\'s your case, and if you control the bundle, you control the case. Guys like myself and Slim took the decision to prepare our own bundles as litigants in person. The advantages are obvious in that you control what goes in there. If you let your ex\'s solicitor do it, you will find that they put in everything they want to strengthen their case, while attempting to limit what you can put in there.

In my case, I prepared the index and submitted it to the ex\'s solicitor, and then they came back to me asking me to amend it to include all manner of [censored]. I refused it on the grounds that it was not in compliance with practice directions. Had I let them do the bundle, all that garbage would have found its way in.

Suffice to say, I feel controlling the bundle not only allowed me to strengthen my case, it also set an example to the judge that I meant business. My case ended very well indeed just recently. Slim\'s judges were very impressed with his bundles at the last hearing, and I\'m sure by him preparing his own this time around, it will stand him in good stead to get a good result.

If your case goes to final hearing, feel free to give me a shout and I will help you with the bundle if you choose to do it yourself.

Simon.

Sounds like I\'ve spent hours doing the wrong thing.
I\'d gone through the various reports and was highlighting errors both in fact and Trying to get my message across that it\'s a load of lies and fabrication and that my child has been lent on.
My issue is that Cafcass recommendations although I partially agree with will not resolve the situation because of PA, so something has got to change. So am I actually contesting the hearing because I do accept some of what Cafcass have said?
I really don\'t get this whole process sometimes.

I don\'t think you have wasted your time. If anything it has been time well spent because you have been studying your case and picking out the important points.

You will have the opportunity to speak in court and point out to the judge what you feel the issues are. He will consider the points you raise and decide the next step in the case.

You should now put those important points into a brief position statement for the hearing. Don\'t bog it down with evidence e.t.c. You need to highlight to the judge where you are at and how you want to move forward. If you want me to read over your draft statement I\'m happy to do so.

Simon.

I wrote a position statement for the first hearing. Can I just use most of that and add additional points to it do you think?

If any of the points you raised in the first statement are still valid and applicable now, then of course use that statement as a framework to build upon. Add to it anything that you feel is relevant now. Thing with position statements are they need to be brief, normally 2 sides of A4 in length. But I suppose a little longer if it needs to be would be ok.

I think you are getting a little ahead of yourself like me I went into the review hearing acting it was like the final hearing without realising lol, the court never asked for a position statement or bundle but I went in all guns blazing with both and cross referenced everything to blow the cafcass s7 report clean out the water they said do you agree with the S7 report Mr Slim then launched into a 5 min mass defence of myself then started saying go to section 5 of my bundle theres the evidence for this that and the other.

The judge sort of laughed and said save this for the final contested hearing Mr Slim but well done on the bundles they are brilliant he then said do you agree with the recommendations of cafcass in the s7 which were for me to have contact with my girl do a drug test and do a parenting course which I did so I said yes I agree and that was that they didnt even look into what the munter of a cafcass officer had to say so I wouldnt worry about defending yourself of what was said in the report they are not interested.

Defo do a position statement and bundle like Simon said they know you mean business when you have one they commented on mine 6-7 times it really did put me in good stead, what was cafcass\'s recommendations in their report?

Yeah just modify your old statement I\'ve done exactly that for this other review hearing in 2 weeks the [censored] heads did actually ask for 7 bundles for this next hearing so I just added to the original one i done and made it pukka then copied it 7 times

I don\'t have time to do a bundle, a statement is just about do able.
So I can say I agree with some of the Cafcass report and then say except I\'d like this, this and this to be considered?
What happens if they say no? Does it end there and then?

You won\'t need a bundle for this hearing - focus on a short statement and get clear in your mind what you want to raise in the hearing.

As for the cafcass report:

What are the important points in it you agree with that help your case? Use those points to reinforce your argument.

What are the points in it you disagree with? Tell the judge you disagree with the points and why. Briefly.

You really are looking to cover three areas: Brief history of the situation. Your concerns. What you are asking the court to do.

What was recommended in the cafcass report? the court will always look to move things forward and promote contact nothing will end it\'s all about moving things forward to the next hearing, I honestly think it doesn\'t matter what you do or don\'t say the system has a set procedure set in stone and they sick to the law to the letter and make sure every child has the right of both parents in their lives.