Alex RKThe Law Society have been in discussions with HMCTS regarding the issues related to the appointment process for ALRs, which has been far from smooth.
In a response to the concerns raised, HMCTS has agreed to run a pilot as of 1 April 2019. As of this date, where a nominated ALR is already involved within proceedings, they can seek appointment within the proceedings and be appointed by the judge. Where an ALR seeks to be nominated within application, they will need to provide reasons for their appointment to the judge.
If there is no nominated ALR within the proceedings, the judge will continue to appoint ALR’s from the ALR list.
The pilot will run for a period of 3 months, where after HMCTS will take a view as to whether allowing direct nominations has been successful. The Law Society are encouraging all ALRs to put themselves forward for direct nomination during the period of the pilot, in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the process.
The current list of ALRs can always be found on the Law Society website here.
