# The Court of Protection Rules 2017, Rule 17.2: Requirement for a litigation friend


(1) This rule does not apply to P (whether P is an adult or a child).
(2) A protected party (if a party to the proceedings) must have a litigation friend.
(3) A child (if a party to the proceedings) must have a litigation friend to conduct those proceedings on that child's behalf unless the court makes an order under paragraph (4).
(4) The court may make an order permitting a child to conduct proceedings without a litigation friend.
(5) An application for an order under paragraph (4)—
(a) may be made by the child;
(b) if the child already has a litigation friend, must be made on notice to the litigation friend; and
(c) if the child has no litigation friend, may be made without notice.
(6) Where—
(a) the court has made an order under paragraph (4); and
(b) it subsequently appears to the court that it is desirable for a litigation friend to conduct the proceedings on behalf of the child,
the court may appoint a person to be the child's litigation friend.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/1035/part/17/chapter/1/rule/17.2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/court-of-protection-rules-2017/part-17/chapter-1/rule-17.2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.