Policy background Cross-examination in family proceedings
Courts hearing family proceedings do not have an express power to prevent a perpetrator or an alleged perpetrator of abuse from cross-examining their victim or alleged victim in person, nor do they have the power to order that an advocate be appointed (and funded) to carry out the cross-examination on behalf of the perpetrator or alleged perpetrator.
	The fact that it is possible at present for perpetrators (alleged or otherwise) to cross-examine their victims in person in family proceedings has attracted criticism, including from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Domestic Violence. It is widely accepted that such cross-examination can cause the victim significant distress and, as the President of the Family Division has said, "can sometimes amount, and on occasion quite deliberately, to a continuation of the abuse". Section 65 prohibits cross-examination in person in certain circumstances in family proceedings in England and Wales and gives the courts a discretion to prohibit cross-examination in certain other circumstances. Section 65 also makes provision for the court, in certain circumstances and where it is considered necessary in the interests of justice, to appoint a legal representative to carry out the cross-examination on behalf of the prohibited party. The section also allows the Lord Chancellor to publish guidance on the role of such a representative, and to make regulations concerning the payment of legal representatives in these circumstances.