Pre-Trial Review (PTR) & Fact Finding Hearing

The PTR is a short hearing designed to allow you and your ex-partner to ask the court to identify the number of issues in dispute (called allegations). This means that the court/judge will ask you or your ex-partner to set out your allegations. Ordinarily, this is done by way of a witness statement, which is followed by a Scott Schedule. The court will or the parties (you and your ex-partner) will try to gather similar allegations under one category. For example, if a number of incidents involving physical abuse are made, then such allegations will be recorded under the category of physical abuse with each incident noted.

Once the number of diputes/allegations is confirmed, the court will ask the parties to record this in a document called a Scott Schedule. The Scott Schedule is set out in a table format.

The court will also consider various evidence that you feel is important for the Fact-Finding Hearing. For example, this could include witnesses, police reports, text messages. At this hearing, the judge will decide whether or not to accept your request. As such, you must be able to explain why you are requesting the judge to accept your evidence.

Overall, the PTR hearing allows the court and the parties (you and your ex-partner) to be aware of the types of evidence the Fact Finding Hearing will address and the number of hours/days that the fact finding hearing will need.

The Fact Finding Hearing (FFH) is essentially a trial. You and your ex-partner will be asked in turn to sit in the witness box, including any witnesses. You will be asked various questions by the judge and the other side. The Fact Finding Hearing allows the judge to decide who the judge believes is telling the truth for each allegation. The decision is made on the balance of probabilities.

The FFH is an emotionally exhausting experience for everyone involved, including professionals - we will add more information about the FFH soon - please do check this page again or contact us. Our services are free - we are a charity committed to access to legal services and justice.