Family courts to be opened up to greater scrutiny
16 December 2008
Family court hearings are for the first time to be opened to accredited media, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced today, in an oral statement in the House of Commons.
The change is one part of a package of new measures intended to improve scrutiny of and public confidence in the family court system.
Media will be able to attend all levels of family courts, removing the inconsistency of access between the higher and lower courts. The court will be able to restrict attendance if the welfare of the child requires it, or for the safety and protection of parties or witnesses.
Introducing the new scheme Jack Straw said:
'It is critical that family courts make the right decisions and the public have confidence they are doing so. A key part of building trust in the system is that people understand how it works.
'At the same time, we must protect the privacy of children and families involved in family court cases so they are not identified or stigmatised by their community or friends.
'These plans strike the right balance in providing a more open, transparent and accountable system while protecting children and families during a difficult and traumatic time in their lives.'
Greater openness for the media will mean that it is essential to provide necessary protection for children and families.
Courts will be able to:
- restrict what can be reported in order to protect the welfare of children and families involved
- relax reporting rules if an individual case allows this.
Parties to the case will be able to make representations to the court if the media are present and there are good reasons why they should be excluded.
As part of making the attendance provisions consistent, the government will consider how adoption proceedings may also be opened up. The government will work with stakeholders, including CAFCASS, to see what approach would be appropriate.
Additional proposals for increasing openness include:
- allowing parties and their legal representatives to disclose information about their case to advisors (including MPs) while a case is ongoing, rather than at the end
- allowing more information to be made accessible to the public about the way the family courts work and how decisions are made.
A pilot project will start in Spring 2009 to:
- place anonymised judgements online from some family cases so that the public can see how decisions were reached
- give parties involved a copy of the judgement at the conclusion of their case so that they have a record of what was decided and why
- look at the practicalities of retaining judgements so that children involved in proceedings can access them when they are older.
Notes to editors
1. Jack Straw's oral statement in the House of Commons and the paper Family Justice in View.
2. For more media enquiries please contact the Ministry of Justice press office on 020 3334 3536. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice's public enquiry unit via email or by phone on 020 3334 3555.