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General Registry Isle of Man Government Mr S Holmes Peel
Oik-Recortyssee Chief Registrar Stephen Cregeen
Chief Registrar’s Office Isle of Man Courts of Justice Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 3AR Telephone: (01624) 685265 E-mail: stephen.cregeen@registrv.gov.im
Our ref: Your ref Date:
[none] 11th August 2011
Dear Mr Holmes I write with reference to your complaint about the General Registry and the issues you raised in response to the investigation undertaken by Mr Coppell, Director of Courts and Tribunal Services. I am unable to undertake any investigations into matters relating to members of the judiciary and my response is also limited due to the matter CP 2008/084 formerly CLA 2008/046 which is currently before the courts. In relation to orders which are made in courts in England there are provisions which allow for the reciprocal enforcement of such orders. In the case of the Lancaster Court Orders in 2004 as the procedure was not followed the orders were registered erroneously, which was confirmed by the Staff of Government in their judgment which has been previously acknowledged. The relevant amendments made to the Family Law Act 1986 (Parliament) s1 by the Children Act 1989(Parliament) came into force on 14 October 1991. (That date is significant as it is also the date on which the Family Law Act (Dependent Territories) Order 1991 (SI 1991/1723) extending the reciprocity of the FLA 1986 Part 1 (as so amended and modified by the 1989 Act and the 1991 Order) to IOM in addition to Scotland and N Ireland came into force and the date on which the Child Custody Act (Tynwald) 1987 came into force by Appointed Day Order.) In relation to the matter of your application under section 33 of the Summary Jurisdiction Act 1989 (as amended by section 20 of the Criminal Justice, Police and Courts Act 2007) as decisions under this are judicial decisions they do not fall under matters that can be considered as complaints against administration. In relation to the matter of the file reference numbers I have re-enforced the requirement to ensure that any other files that are formally linked to a matter are fully cross-referenced and that in future when a file is requested to be viewed that the relevant associated files which are cross referenced are also provided for inspection subject to and in accordance with an applicable provision of rules of court and/or relevant consent or approval required there under. The current court forms, subject to minor amendments, were introduced in 2009 following the introduction of the Rules of the High Court 2009. The statutory provision in respect of forms is set out in section 27B of the High Court Act 1991 (as amended by s.5 of the Administration of Justice Act 2008) which provides for the forms to be prepared or approved by the Deemsters Proceedings in the High Court. I can advise that we are looking at the content and format of the Court forms, within our available resources, and considering
comments made in respect of them in order that where revisions are considered appropriate to improve court operation proposals can be put forward for consideration by the Deemsters. Yours sincerely
Stephen Cregeen Chief Registrar