When it is not clear whether a case belongs to a family court or a district court, who decides the point, and how is the case then handled?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file, we read the papers showing what the case is about and where it was filed, the correspondence in which either court raises doubt about its own jurisdiction, and any decision sent down by the high court, since the provision turns on whether the allocation is genuinely unclear and on who makes the designation.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the condition literally: only where which of the two courts has jurisdiction is 'not clear' does the designation power arise, and it then rests with the high court common to both courts, not with either of them; the parties do not appoint the court.
Another reading looks to what follows designation rather than to who designates: the outcome of the designation sets the procedure, since a case assigned to the family court is dealt with under the procedures this Act provides, while one assigned to the district court follows civil litigation procedure, and the provision on designation itself borrows from the Civil Procedure Act without saying how that borrowing is worked through in practice.
Your judgment
If the two courts disagree and the parties disagree too, what in the file could show that the allocation is 'not clear' within the meaning the provision uses?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change who makes the designation or to define when the allocation is unclear, or if a decision explains what 'common high court' covers for a court without one above it.