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Parties must complete an application to seek permission from the court to instruct an expert witness. Judges can then consider the use of expert witnesses on a case-by-case basis. For permission to be granted, the expert witness must meet the standards given in practice direction 25B. There is a list of 11 standards set out that govern this, which include requirements that they have been active in the area of the work, they have sufficient experience of the issues and they have familiarity with the breadth of current practice or opinion. If their professional practice is regulated by a UK statutory body, they must be in possession of a current licence—in the case of ISWs, this must be a licence with Social Work England or Social Care Wales—be up to date with CPD, and have received appropriate training on the role of an expert in the family courts.