Family courts – information pilot announced
02 November 2009
Online publication of some judgments in family cases, like care proceedings and contact and residence cases, will be piloted for the first time at courts in Leeds and Cardiff.
The pilots are part of a drive to help the public and the media find out how family courts work and how decisions are reached. The online judgments will be anonymous to protect the identities of the families involved, and the families themselves will receive a copy of the judgment. During the pilots, we will consider retaining copies of judgments for children involved in the case to read when they are older.
This information will be invaluable for people involved in family proceedings and the general public, and help them understand how decisions are reached in complex and sometimes traumatic cases.
Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said:
‘Family courts are faced with some of the most difficult decisions to be made in the justice system, and the decisions that they make need to be transparent so that the public who use the courts have confidence in them.
‘The courts already provide an excellent service and I believe that by allowing the public to access a written copy of a judgement in a family case it will help them understand how a decision was reached. It is important that people understand and feel connected to the justice system and this pilot will assess whether online judgements are a good way of achieving this aim.
‘We will continue to protect and safeguard the identities of children and families by anonymising these written judgements.’
The pilot will run from today in the magistrates’ courts in Leeds, and the magistrates’ court and county court in Cardiff, and will run from the beginning of January at the magistrates’ court and county court in Wolverhampton. The pilot is expected to run for 12 months, and evidence from the pilot will be evaluated to inform a decision on whether the arrangements should be implemented nationally.
This work builds on the successful reforms in April that allowed the media, for the first time, to attend these hearings and report the gist of proceedings. There will also be legislation in the 5th session DCSF Bill to put a new statutory framework in place that will enable reporting of the substance of family proceedings, while protecting the identities of the families and children involved.
Notes to editors
1. The provision of the judgments and written reasons is being piloted so that we can assess the benefits to parties to proceedings and the wider public, as well as the resource impacts on the court service and judiciary. The pilot is expected to run for twelve months, and evidence from the pilot will be evaluated to inform a decision on whether the arrangements should be implemented nationally. Once approved by the courts, the judgments will be available on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) website.
2. The following types of cases fall within the scope of the pilot:
(i) an interim care/supervision order or a final order has been made at a hearing in either
- the family proceedings court (magistrates or DJ (MCs)
- county courts (Circuit or District judges or Recorders) or
- the High Court
and
(ii) the case falls under at least one of the following categories
- Either parent is given leave permanently to remove a child from the UK
- The final order prohibits direct contact between a child and either or both parents
- A final order is made in a Children Act public law case, including where contact continues
- The final order has depended on contested issues of religion, culture or ethnicity
- The court has had to decide between medical or other expert witnesses where there were significant differences of opinion
- The court has had to decide significant human rights issues
- The Interim Care/Supervision Order was contested.
There will be other types of case in which publication of the judgment will be encouraged. The type of cases include:
- Contested cases where the facts, outcomes or solutions of the case would, in the discretion of the judge, be worthy of reporting publicly
- contested adoption applications, applications to make and revoke placement orders; cases involving dispensation with consent and contact
- Emergency Protection Orders.
3. For more information, please contact the Ministry of Justice press office on 0203 334 3536.
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