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Evidence — Family Justice Council Guidance on Alienating Behaviour (England & Wales, December 2024)

The Family Justice Council (FJC) of England and Wales published, in December 2024 and endorsed by the President of the Family Division, "Guidance on responding to a child's unexplained reluctance, resistance or refusal to spend time with a parent and allegations of alienating behaviour." This is the highest-authority procedural document on alienating-behaviour allegations in English family law for over a decade. It formalises the settled post-Re H-N [2021] EWCA Civ 448 methodology and rewrites the terminology of the field for domestic English usage. CC BY 4.0.

Maintained by Alan Markson · Last reviewed: 2026-07-30 · License: CC BY 4.0

What the Guidance is

A public procedural document issued by the FJC — the multi-disciplinary body that advises the President of the Family Division on family-justice policy — and endorsed by the President. It is not itself binding law, but it is the authoritative statement of good practice for the English family courts on how allegations of alienating behaviour should be handled at fact-finding and welfare stages.

Primary source PDF: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Family-Justice-Council-Guidance-on-responding-to-allegations-of-alienating-behaviour-2024-1-1.pdf

Judiciary.uk landing page: https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/family-justice-council-has-published-guidance-on-responding-to-a-childs-unexplained-reluctance-resistance-or-refusal-to-spend-time-with-a-parent-and-allegations-of-alienating-behavi/

What it says — the four operative propositions

The Guidance formalises four propositions that had been developing in the Re H-N / Re C line but had not previously been stated in a single procedural document:

1. "Alienating behaviour" is the preferred terminology, not "parental alienation" or "parental alienation syndrome"

The Guidance directs practitioners to describe alleged behaviours (what one parent is alleged to have done) rather than to assert a syndrome (a psychological diagnosis of the child or the alleging parent). The behaviour-frame is doctrinally coherent with English evidential rules; the syndrome-frame is not.

2. Alienating behaviour is a question of fact, not a diagnosis

Whether alienating behaviour has occurred is determined by the court on the ordinary civil standard of proof, applied to the evidence of specific incidents, communications, and conduct. It is not a matter on which the court receives expert diagnostic testimony. Experts may assist the court on whether observed behaviour is consistent with the pleaded pattern and on the likely impact on the child, but the "does it exist here" question is a judicial finding.

3. Alienating-behaviour allegations must not be used as a defence to domestic-abuse allegations

Where a parent alleges alienating behaviour by the other parent AND the other parent alleges domestic abuse by the first, the two sets of allegations must both be tested on their own evidential merits. An alleged victim of domestic abuse cannot have her factual allegations dismissed on the ground that they are, or are consequential to, alienating behaviour by her. This is the operative Re H-N principle formalised.

4. The fact-finding sequence is: safety first, alienation second

If both sets of allegations are pleaded, the court's investigation prioritises the safety of the child and the alleged domestic-abuse victim before turning to any alienating-behaviour analysis. The alienating-behaviour question does not disappear — but it is analysed against a factual record that includes the findings on domestic abuse rather than being permitted to preempt them.

Why the Guidance matters

For over a decade, English practice had been calibrated by the Re H-N Court of Appeal decision (2021) and subsequent High Court authorities (Re C 2023, Re L 2024 line). What was missing was a single procedural document that safeguarding professionals, CAFCASS officers, family-court practitioners, and lay parties could reference to know what "the current approach" is. The FJC Guidance fills that gap.

Its practical significance is threefold:

  • In court: it is now the routine citation for procedural argument about how alienating-behaviour allegations should be handled. Any submission that treats "parental alienation" as a diagnosis rather than a factual question can be met by pointing at the FJC Guidance and asking the court to apply it.
  • In CAFCASS practice: Family Court Reporters and Guardians are expected to align their reports with the Guidance's terminology and analytical structure. This has already begun to be reflected in updated CAFCASS practice materials.
  • In pre-court safeguarding: local authority Children's Services, mediators, and MIAM practitioners can use the Guidance's framing to head off syndrome-style claims before they enter court proceedings.

How the Guidance interacts with the case-law

How the Guidance interacts with international developments

The FJC Guidance is doctrinally compatible with:

  • The Council of Europe GREVIO thematic reports on Spain (2020), Portugal (2024) and Sweden (2024), which criticise family courts that accept "ill-founded" PA-syndrome claims to dismiss domestic-abuse allegations.
  • The UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls reports A/HRC/53/36 (2023) and A/HRC/62/49 (2026) on the abuse-defence use of PA claims in custody proceedings.
  • Spain's LO 8/2021 and its 2026 reform draft, which statutorily prohibit reliance on SAP or its reformulations in judicial and administrative procedures.

The Guidance is doctrinally distinct from the US Kayden's Law and its state-level implementations (2022–2026), which restrict court-ordered reunification therapy at statutory rather than procedural level.

Practical citation format

When citing the Guidance in submissions:

Family Justice Council, Guidance on responding to a child's unexplained reluctance, resistance or refusal to spend time with a parent and allegations of alienating behaviour (December 2024), endorsed by the President of the Family Division, available at https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Family-Justice-Council-Guidance-on-responding-to-allegations-of-alienating-behaviour-2024-1-1.pdf.

Disclaimer

Wiki summary of a publicly-issued guidance document. Practitioners should read the full FJC Guidance in the linked PDF before relying on any summary. Not legal advice.

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