Associate solicitor Rebecca Ledgerwood, in our Family Law team, discusses changes and transparency in the Family Court.
The Family Court has the reputation of being an enigma, working in ways that are unknown and unclear to all those save for individuals who work within the system. This lack of understanding makes it a daunting and stressful experience when those with no prior knowledge or experience of the system find themselves embroiled within it.
The need for privacy in the Family Court stems from the requirement that information about families, and particularly children, and their private issues is protected. In recent years it has been noted that this need for privacy also has detrimental consequences. The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane set out that “Justice taking place in private, where the press cannot report what has happened and where public information is very limited, is bound to lead to a loss of public confidence and a perception that there is something to hide.”.
To address matters there has been a seismic shift over recent months to increase transparency in the Family Court. Changes made include:
- In private law financial remedy matters any published judgments will no longer be anonymised it, save for any children referred to will continue to be granted anonymity; and
- Judges sitting across all levels to anonymise and publish at least 10% of their cases.
The aim of these changes is to provide access to what is happening in the Family Court and the decisions that the Judges are making day-to-day.
In addition to the above, the most recent change is the new Transparency Reporting Pilot Scheme which is taking place in Leeds, Carlisle and Cardiff Family Courts to allow the press to report family law cases relating to children. It will run from 30 January 2023 for a period of 12 months. Initially it will be limited to public children law matters extending to private children law matters in due course. The scheme introduces a presumption that accredited media representative and legal bloggers (meaning duly authorised lawyers) can attend and observe hearings. The purpose of this is to provide an insight into how the Family Court operates. In some circumstances the media will be able to report on the case but this will be subject to strict rules of anonymity together with guidance from the presiding Judge as to what can and cannot be published with a specific Transparency Order being made to ensure compliance.
It is hoped that the increased transparency measures will increase the public’s confidence in the system as well as increasing the learning opportunities for professionals.
For further information or legal advice, please contact law@blandy.co.uk or call 0118 951 6800.
This article is intended for the use of clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it is believed to be correct at the date of publication, but it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional advice.
