Position statements and schedules of issues

Court Documents, Statements & Submissions

Position Statements & Schedules of Issues

Focus the court on what matters at the next hearing: the live issues, your position on them and the order or directions you are asking the judge to consider.

Litigants in person often approach a position statement as an opportunity to tell the court the entire history of the case. That is understandable — particularly where the proceedings have been difficult or important context has repeatedly felt overlooked.

But a position statement performs a different job. It should help the judge understand your current position for this hearing, not require the judge to reconstruct the entire case from several pages of narrative.

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The strongest hearing documents reduce the issues rather than reproducing the whole case.

A position statement should answer: “What does the judge need to understand from me today?”

The answer will depend on the hearing. At a directions hearing, you may need to identify unresolved procedural issues and the directions you seek. At a dispute resolution hearing, the focus may be the remaining areas of disagreement. At a final hearing, the position must connect more directly to the final orders sought.

A statement or schedule of issues performs a related but different job: it identifies the questions the court needs to resolve.

Keeping those functions separate produces documents that are shorter, clearer and much easier for the court to use.

Is this the right service?

Position statement support may be useful if…

You have a hearing approaching and need to explain your position succinctly.

Your draft has become several pages of history and you are struggling to reduce it.

You know what you disagree with but cannot clearly identify the actual issues the judge must decide.

You need to state the orders or directions you seek in clear practical terms.

The case involves Cafcass or professional recommendations that need a focused response at the next hearing.

The court has directed preparation of an issues document and the parties need to identify what remains in dispute.

Two documents — two different jobs

Position statement ≠ statement of issues

Position statement

Sets out your position on the matters to be determined at the particular hearing and identifies the orders or directions you seek.

Statement / schedule of issues

Identifies the questions requiring resolution. It is about defining the dispute rather than arguing one party's case.

In current PD27A terminology, the preliminary document is generally described as a statement of the issue or issues to be determined. Individual court orders or local practice may use slightly different wording such as “list” or “schedule” of issues, so the actual order should always be checked.

Position statements

A useful position statement should orient the judge quickly

Identify the hearing

State the case, parties, hearing date and the purpose of the document clearly.

Define your current position

Explain your position on the matters that actually require determination at this hearing.

Identify what is agreed

Do not make the judge work through disputed material to discover that part of the case is already agreed.

Identify what remains disputed

Reduce disagreement to the practical or legal questions that remain unresolved.

Cross-reference key material

Where appropriate, direct the judge to the relevant pages rather than reproducing lengthy evidence.

State what you seek

Finish with the order or directions you want the court to consider making.

Current court-bundle rules

PD27A now places clear limits on position statements

For family proceedings other than financial-remedy proceedings, the current PD27A says that a position statement should:

be concise and ordinarily no longer than three pages, unless the court accepts that the case is complex and directs another maximum;
define and confine the matters in dispute to those requiring resolution at the hearing;
be set out in numbered paragraphs;
cross-reference relevant documents in the bundle;
be self-contained rather than incorporating previous position statements by reference;
avoid extensive quotation from documents;
not introduce new evidence;
not contain exhibits; and
set out the directions or orders sought.

Case-specific directions always matter. If the court has ordered a different format, page limit or filing timetable, that order takes priority.

Statements & schedules of issues

The issues document should tell the court what still needs deciding

Under the current PD27A framework for proceedings other than financial remedies, the preliminary documents include an agreed statement of the issues to be determined at the particular hearing and at the final hearing.

The objective is not to write allegations or submissions in another format. It is to identify the questions.

Make each issue a question

For example: what interim contact arrangements, if any, should operate pending the next hearing?

Separate today's issues from final issues

A case-management hearing may require decisions that are different from the ultimate welfare determination.

Remove resolved matters

An agreed or already-determined issue should not continue appearing as though it remains live.

Record disagreement properly

Where an agreed document cannot be achieved, the parties' differing contentions can be identified within the document.

Keep it short

Under PD27A, a statement of issues included in the bundle is ordinarily limited to two pages unless the court directs otherwise.

Cross-reference where useful

Where practicable, the issues document should direct the court to relevant material in the bundle.

A practical structure

A position statement might be organised like this

1. Hearing

Identify the hearing date, type of hearing and its purpose.

2. Current position

Give the short procedural context necessary to understand where the case currently stands.

3. Agreements

Identify matters that are no longer disputed where relevant.

4. Live issues

Address only the issues that require attention at this particular hearing.

5. Key evidence

Refer concisely to the most relevant material, with bundle page references where appropriate.

6. Orders sought

State clearly what you ask the judge to order or direct at this hearing and, where relevant, ultimately.

What to send

Start with the documents that define the next hearing

Latest court order

This is usually the starting point for understanding the purpose of the next hearing and outstanding directions.

Hearing notice

Useful for confirming the date, type, duration and format of the hearing.

Current applications

These help identify what is formally before the court.

Relevant reports

Cafcass, social-work or expert material may be central to the issues at the hearing.

Previous position statements

They may provide useful procedural context, although the new statement should be prepared for the current hearing.

Your proposed outcome

Tell me in plain English what you want the court to consider doing and why.

What you receive

A focused court document that you understand

Depending on the agreed scope, the work may include:

review of the latest order and hearing purpose;
identification of the issues that appear live at the next hearing;
removal of unnecessary procedural or relationship history;
a structured draft position statement for you to review;
concise identification of your position on each relevant issue;
appropriate bundle cross-references where the material is available;
a clear section identifying the orders or directions sought;
support preparing or reviewing a statement or schedule of issues where required;
identification of evidence that should be dealt with elsewhere rather than inserted into the position statement; and
a list of factual points for you to check before the document is filed.

Reduce the noise

From case history to hearing document

Before

ten pages of chronology;
every complaint about the other party;
long extracts from messages;
allegations mixed with findings;
no clear order sought;
issues from previous hearings still repeated.

After

purpose of this hearing identified;
live issues clearly defined;
relevant evidence cross-referenced;
procedural status accurately described;
position expressed concisely;
orders and directions sought made explicit.

Common problems

What weakens a position statement?

Retelling the entire relationship history instead of addressing the hearing.

Introducing new factual evidence inside the position statement.

Attaching exhibits to a document that should not contain them.

Using several pages to attack the other party rather than defining the issues.

Quoting documents at length instead of cross-referencing them.

Failing to distinguish allegations from findings or admissions.

Not stating clearly what order or direction you actually want.

Reusing an old position statement with an “update” paragraph instead of preparing the document for the current hearing.

How it works

Building the document around the hearing

Identify what this hearing is for

Review the latest order, hearing notice and current procedural position.

Define the live issues

Separate what actually needs deciding now from background disputes and matters already resolved.

Identify your position

Work out what you say about each live issue and why.

Identify the key supporting material

Cross-reference rather than reproducing evidence wherever appropriate.

State the orders sought

Finish by making it clear what you want the court to consider ordering or directing.

Hearing approaching?

Your position statement should make the judge's preparation easier, not harder.

If you already have a draft, send it with the latest court order and the date of the hearing. It can often be substantially improved by reducing rather than adding.

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Important distinction

A position statement is not a substitute for witness evidence

Under current PD27A, a position statement should not introduce new evidence or contain exhibits.

If a factual matter needs proving, the correct place for that evidence may instead be a witness statement, existing documentary evidence or another form directed by the court.

This is one reason position statements become less effective when they are used as a combination of witness statement, chronology, argument and evidence bundle all at once.

Need broader hearing preparation?

The position statement may only be one part of getting ready for court

If you also need to organise evidence, understand the hearing, prepare the bundle or work through the practical issues likely to arise on the day, use the wider hearing-preparation service.

Explore Family Court Hearing Preparation →

If the immediate problem is the hearing bundle:

Explore Family Court Bundle Help →

Clear boundaries

JSH Law can help prepare the document. You remain responsible for the position advanced.

JSH Law provides non-reserved legal services, litigation support and McKenzie Friend assistance. JSH Law is not an SRA-authorised solicitors' firm.

You remain responsible for confirming the factual accuracy of any document, approving the position expressed, complying with court directions and filing or serving documents unless a particular lawful task has expressly been agreed.

JSH Law cannot guarantee that the court will accept the position advanced or make the orders requested.

The exact content, page limit and filing arrangements should always be checked against the latest court order and procedural requirements applying to the case.

Focused document support

You can instruct JSH Law for one position statement

£100 per hour for standard support

The work required depends on the complexity of the hearing, the amount of relevant material that needs reviewing and whether you already have a usable draft.

A short position statement may still require significant underlying analysis where the case itself is complex. The aim is not to fill three pages — it is to identify what deserves to be in them.

Where the task and document volume can be defined clearly, a fixed-fee quote may be available before you commit.

If the filing deadline is imminent, tell JSH Law before sending a large volume of documents.

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Position statement due?