Family courts to open up…but only a bit

Instead, a series of new measures has been proposed designed to clarify the proceedings for participants.
Under the new system—to be piloted later this year—more information will be given about how the court has reached its decision for the people involved in proceedings and for those who were subject to proceedings as children.

In public interest cases, eg where a child is permanently removed from one or both parents, either an anonymised transcript or an anonymised decision summary will be published. The rules on who can attend family courts, and what reporting restrictions apply, will also be clarified.

An online information hub is planned to provide general information on the different tiers of family court, what happens in each, on what basis the judiciary reaches decisions, and what to expect from proceedings.
Child law specialist Peter Garsden, of Abneys, says the media should have more access to the family courts but under tightly controlled circumstances.
“We need to avoid a new type of soap opera from being created in perhaps a wholly new type of digital television channel as we presently have in America.

The media reporting should therefore be informational and informative rather than sensational,” Garsden says. “If there were fewer reporting restrictions, but more fear among the parties to the proceedings, then the motive behind the openness would have been defeated,” he adds.

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