Can a family court order attorney fees as sanctions against a party who makes unwarranted disclosure of a confidential custody evaluation report?

No statute relied upon by the family court specifically authorized the award of attorney fees as sanctions at the time the court awarded them. Family Code section 3111, subdivisions (d) and (e), authorizing sanctions against a party who makes "unwarranted" disclosure of a written confidential custody evaluation report and which would have authorized the sanctions imposed here, became operative on January 1, 2010, 10 months after the sanctions were awarded. (See Fam. Code, 3111, subd. (d).) Local Rule 11:16F could not authorize attorney fees as sanctions where such sanctions were not

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available pursuant to existing statute. (Cf., Elkins v. Superior Court (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1337, 1345, 1351-1352.)⁸