Family Procedure (Modification of Enactments) Order 2005

rose to move, That the draft order laid before the House on 12 October be approved [5th Report from the Joint Committee]. The noble Lord said: My Lords, in moving that the draft Family Procedure (Modification of Enactments) Order 2005 be approved, I shall speak also to the draft Access to Justice Act 1999 (Destination of Appeals) (Family Proceedings) Order 2005 and the draft Revised Legal Services Commission Funding Code 2005. First, the orders and revisions to the code are minor definition changes to facilitate the implementation of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004, both of which come into force in December. The orders are the only two affirmative instruments tabled by the Department for Constitutional Affairs relating to the implementation of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. They provide continuity of current provisions as we move from the soon-to-be-repealed Adoption Act 1976 to the Adoption and Children Act 2002. For ease, we have tabled these with the revised funding code, prepared by the Legal Services Commission, which simply adds the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 to the list of legislation covered by the code. I turn to the effect of the orders. The Family Procedure (Modification of Enactments) Order 2005 will enable family proceedings courts to continue to issue witness summons, which has previously been provided by Sections 97(1)(a) and (2) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980. The Access to Justice Act 1999 (Destination of Appeals) (Family Proceedings) Order 2005 allows appeals in adoption matters to continue to be heard by the courts to which they are currently assigned. Appeals would otherwise lie directly to the Court of Appeal in almost every case, which is neither time nor cost-effective. Both those orders are needed to ensure a smooth transition from the old to the new rules. They underpin the adoption policy of the Department for Education and Skills, which has already been approved by Parliament—including by affirmative debate on two instruments moved by my noble friend Lord Adonis on 8 June. All other strands of DCA’s court rules have been consulted on and approved by the Family Procedure Rules Committee. In addition, the Lord Chancellor has consulted the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls, the President of the Queen’s Bench Division, the President of the Family Division and the Chancellor of the High Court on the destination of appeals order. No comments were made on that order. On the funding code, the amendments are all minor, non-controversial changes that essentially update the funding code to capture the new proceedings being introduced by the Adoption and Children Act 2002 on 30 December 2005 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004 on 5 December 2005. The legal profession has been informed of the proposals and has not raised any concerns. I stand ready with more detail of the sections and orders, should noble Lords require, but I think that your Lordships will understand that these are necessary and technical amendments that make no practical change to legislation, the daily business of practitioners or the general public. I commend the order to the House. I beg to move. Moved, That the draft order laid before the House on 12 October be approved [5th Report from the Joint Committee].—(Lord Evans of Temple Guiting.)