Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Public Law Outline definition

What does Public Law Outline mean? In practice, the Public Law Outline (PLO) is the Family Court’s case‑management framework for public law children cases, especially applications for care orders and supervision orders. It sets the pre‑proceedings process with families (including the “letter before proceedings” and meetings), core evidence (such as the social work statement and threshold), and the sequence of hearings, all to a standard 26‑week timetable (extendable only for exceptional reasons under the Children and Families Act 2014). The PLO is not a statutory definition. In England and Wales it is contained in Practice Direction 12A to the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and operates alongside Part...

Guidance on fact-finding and split hearings in public law children proceedings: necessity, scope, conduct and appeals (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Family expert

Practice notes

A fact-finding hearing is the first of two parts of a ‘split hearing’.

A fact‑finding hearing forms the opening stage of a split hearing comprising two distinct parts. At this initial phase, the court determines the facts on matters it has itself pinpointed, as recorded in the order listing the fact‑finding hearing that has been set down. This Practice Note addresses the public law context. As MacDonald J observed in Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea v NM, the choice whether to convene a fact‑finding hearing is among the most significant case management decisions in proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act, and it is not necessarily a simple one. On 22 April 2014, the Public Law Outline (PLO) governing care, supervision and other proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act 1989 came into force under the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (FPR 2010) as FPR 2010, PD 12A. See Practice Note: Public law children procedure—Public Law Outline for practical guidance on the PLO and on the provisions introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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