Opening up the Family Courts – One Month On

Family courts have been open to the media for one month but, for ordinary families, there are likely to be few changes.

The family courts in and have traditionally operated in private – away from the press or members of the public – when dealing both with divorce and its financial consequences, and child welfare issues.

New rules covering family proceedings came into effect on 27th April this year which allow UK press card holders to attend certain family court hearings for the first time  (although access will still be prohibited for the general public). This change is partly in response to growing public concerns that proceedings are conducted behind closed doors, and this has been particularly apparent with high-profile cases like the Baby P case.

Although the rules have been changed to allow reporters to attend more family court hearings, the restrictions placed on reporting mean that, in most cases, journalists will not be able to write about what they see and hear. It is likely that they will only take advantage of their new freedom in and where the person involved in proceedings is high-profile, or where a matter of public importance is to be considered.

There are still measures in place designed to protect children and vulnerable people connected to the case.  The media can still be barred from hearings where their exclusion is deemed necessary, for example:

• In the interest of any child concerned in, or connected with, the proceedings;
• For the safety and protection of parties, witnesses, or a person connected to a party or witness;
• For the orderly conduct of proceedings – which is apparently intended to cover situations where more journalists wish to attend than a court can physically accommodate.

If there are concerns about the presence of a representative of the press in court, an application may be made to have them excluded, although they should then be allowed to make representations against the exclusion. The Judge will consider the sensitivity of any information which is likely to be disclosed. The provisions will therefore not extend to hearings which are conducted for the purpose of judicially assisted conciliation or negotiation.

Restrictions are still in place to protect sensitive information, so the provisions do not entitle a media representative to receive or peruse court documents referred to in the course of evidence, submissions or judgment without the permission of the court and resulting reports will be published in an anonymous form.  

The government’s decision to open the family courts to the media was designed to restore some of that lost faith in the judicial system. But the protective restrictions are very tight, which means, when it comes to ‘ordinary people,’ the media are unlikely to report the proceedings anyway.