From the 1st April 2010 Legal Services Directorate will introduce revised procedure to enable timely access to relevant information as may be held by the police for the purposes of Family Proceedings.

The key principle of the procedure is the promotion of co-operation with a view to minimising delays within family proceedings. To help achieve this aim the Directorate look to practitioners to adhere to the principle of the protocol, the basis of which was agreed Family Courts in 2005 and is followed nationally.

From the 1st April 2010 requests and/or Court Orders are to be served upon:

Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Legal Services Directorate

Police Headquarters

PO Box 37

Valley Road

Portishead

BS20 8QJ

Tel: 01275 816 270

Fax: 01275 814 522

Service will not be accepted by email without prior express agreement.

Private Law Family Proceedings

Practitioners will be required to provide an undertaking to discharge the Directorate's Standard Disclosure Fee of £80 prior to any work being undertaken on the request.

Unrepresented litigants in person will be required to make payment by cheque to 'Avon and Somerset Constabulary' prior to any work being undertaken on the request.

The Standard Disclosure Fee will be reviewed annually.

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