PLEASE NOTE THIS PD COMES INTO FORCE 27 JANUARY 2025.

Title	Paragraph No.
Scope	Para No. 1.1
Interpretation	Para No. 2.1
Aims and principles	Para No. 3.1
Transparency Order: procedure	Para No. 4.1
Transparency Order: contents	Para No. 5.1
Transparency Orders: documents and data	Para No. 6.1
Transparency orders: considerations for the court	Para No. 7.1

This Practice Direction supplements rule 12.73A FPR.

Scope

1.1 This Practice Direction applies where-

(a) a Reporter attends a court hearing in accordance with rule 27.11 FPR and Practice Direction 27B; and

(b) that hearing is in proceedings of a type referred to in paragraph 1.2.

1.2 The types of proceedings are-

(a) all proceedings for orders in public law proceedings and private law proceedings, and proceedings to discharge, vary or enforce existing orders in such proceedings;

(b) all proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court, including to authorise the deprivation of a child’s liberty

(c) all proceedings to which Chapter 6 of Part 12 FPR applies (proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention, the European Convention and the 1996 Hague Convention).

1.3 This Practice Direction comes into force –

(a) on 27th January 2025 in all locations of the family court in which, immediately prior to that date, the pilot scheme referred to in the Reporting Pilot Guidance from the President of the Family Division dated August 2024 (and in predecessor Guidance) was operating; and

(b) in all locations of the family court not within sub-paragraph (a) above, and in the Family Division of the High Court, as follows-

(i) on 27th January 2025 in relation to public law proceedings other than those heard by lay justices;

(ii) on 1st May 2025 in relation to-

(aa) private law proceedings; and

(bb) proceedings referred to in paragraph 1.2(b) and (c)

other than those heard by lay justices; and

(iii) on 29th September 2025 in relation to any proceedings referred to in paragraph 1.2 heard by lay justices.

1.4 This Practice Direction applies from the relevant date specified in paragraph 1.3 to the relevant types of proceedings falling within paragraph 1.1 whether started before, or on or after, that date.

Interpretation

2.1 In this Practice Direction-

“Reporter” means-

(a) a duly accredited representative of news gathering and reporting organisations, within the meaning in rule 27.11 FPR and Practice Direction 27B;

(b) a duly authorised lawyer attending for journalistic, research or public legal education purposes, within the meaning in rule 27.11 FPR and Practice Direction 27B; or

(c) a media representative who is unable to demonstrate accreditation so as to be able to attend a hearing by virtue of rule 27.11(2)(f) but who the court has permitted to attend a hearing under rule 27.11(2)(g) (paragraph 4.3 of Practice Direction 27B refers);
“Transparency Order” means an order-

(a) setting out-

(i) what information from court proceedings referred to in paragraph 1.2 may be communicated;

(ii) who may communicate that information;

(iii) to whom that information may be communicated (which may include to the public at large or a section of it),
meaning that any such communication will not amount to a contempt of court; and

(b) setting out what information from court proceedings referred to in paragraph 1.2 may not be communicated, meaning that any communication of that information could amount to a contempt of court.

Aims and principles

3.1 Where paragraph 1.1 applies, the aim of this Practice Direction is to support Reporters being able to report on what they see and hear in court in accordance with the terms of a Transparency Order (“the transparency principle”).

3.2 Through the means of a Transparency Order, the restrictions on publication contained within section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 are varied. No contempt of court will be committed so long as the terms of the Transparency Order are complied with.

3.3 Any reporting must be subject to the principles of protection of the anonymity of any children involved in the proceedings, unless the court orders otherwise. In particular, it should be noted that section 97 of the 1989 Act protects the anonymity of the child for the duration of the proceedings, and that a Transparency Order may extend that protection for a further period.

Transparency Order: procedure

4.1 Where this Practice Direction applies (see paragraph 1.1)-

(a) issues of transparency should be considered and addressed at the outset of the hearing, if possible;

(b) the court must consider whether to make a Transparency Order, and in what terms; and

(c) if the court decides that it should not make a Transparency Order, the court must provide reasons for that decision.

4.2 Parties or their legal representatives must consider the issue of transparency prior to a hearing. Transparency should form part of the agenda for any advocates’ meeting or pre-hearing discussion. Parties should be aware that requests for adjournments on the basis that the parties or their legal representatives failed to consider this issue prior to a hearing may not be granted.

4.3 Parties or their legal representatives are expected to be prepared to address the court on whether a Transparency Order should be made, and to what extent, at the start of a hearing where a Reporter attends.

4.4 For each hearing attended by a Reporter, a court order must record-

(a) the name and contact details of the Reporter who attended,

(b) whether the Reporter requested the making of a Transparency Order; and

(c) that the Reporter has been given a copy of any Transparency Order made.

4.5 The court may at any time make, vary or discharge a Transparency Order. This may be-

(a) on application by a party, a legal representative or a Reporter; or

(b) of the court’s own motion.

4.6 Any requests for documents (see section 6 of this Practice Direction) made by a Reporter must be made at or before a hearing that the Reporter is attending.

4.7 Any requests for copy documents must be made to, and complied with, by the party who, or whose legal representative, drafted the document in question.

4.8 Any documents must be provided to the Reporter by electronic means (for example, email) and not in hard copy.

4.9 The copy documents must be provided to the Reporter-

(a) at a hearing that the Reporter is attending; or

(b) within a reasonable time after such a hearing.

4.10 A Reporter must-

(a) offer an email address for digital transmission of documents by legal representatives or litigants in person, which email address must be for a paid for (as opposed to free) account which is properly maintained for compliance with data protection requirements applicable in England and Wales; and

(b) be prepared to provide information about how the data are to be handled pursuant to data protection requirements applicable in England and Wales, upon request from the court, or any party, and assurances that the documents provided will be kept confidential.

4.11 Where any document referred to above quotes from a document which the Reporter would not automatically be entitled to see (such as source evidence), the passage quoting may not be reproduced or reported without permission of the court.

4.12 If a document is referred to during a hearing, that does not entitle the Reporter to see that document in its entirety, although an application may be made at the hearing for access to the document in question.

4.13 If a Reporter wishes to see any other document not permitted to be disclosed by the Transparency Order, they must apply to the court for permission. Such other documents may not be disclosed to a Reporter without that permission, even if the parties consent to its disclosure. Likewise, a different Reporter may not view or access documents from a hearing where another Reporter has attended and obtained documents for themselves.

4.14 The court may permit disclosure to a Reporter at the outset of a hearing to assist the Reporter to understand and follow the proceedings, even though reporting of the contents of the document may be restricted.

Transparency Order: contents

5.1 A template for a Transparency Order is available on the judicial website and within the compendium of standard family orders. The court should amend the template as it considers appropriate on the facts of a given case.

5.2 The template Transparency Order-

(a) states that it remains in place until every child to whom the proceedings relate reaches the age of 18;

(b) provides that, in any reporting about the proceedings, the following must not be reported to the public at large, or a section of the public, without the express permission of the court-

(i) the name or date of birth of any subject child in the case;

(ii) the name of any parent or family member who is a party or who is mentioned in the case, or whose name may lead to the child(ren) being identified;

(iii) the name of any person who is a party to, or intervening in, the proceedings;

(iv) the address of any child or family member;

(v) the name or address of any foster carer;

(vi) the school, hospital, placement name or address, or any identifying features of a school, of the child;

(vii) photographs or images of the child, their parents, carer or any other identifying person, or any of the locations specified above in conjunction with other information relating to the proceedings;

(viii) the names of any medical professional who is or has been treating any of the children or family member;

(ix) in cases involving alleged sexual abuse, the details of such alleged abuse;

(x) for the purposes of section 97(2) of the 1989 Act, any other information likely to identify the child as a child who is, or has been, the subject of proceedings to which that section applies.

5.3 The template Transparency Order provides that following bodies, agencies or professionals may be named in any reporting of the proceedings-

(a) a local authority/authorities involved in the proceedings;

(b) the director and assistant director of Children’s Services within the any local authority involved in the proceedings (but no other person from the local authority, including the social worker, without express permission of the court);

(c) Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru or the National Youth Advocacy Service (that is, as bodies, but not the name of the children’s guardian or reporting officer without express permission of the court);

(d) any independent social workers appointed by the court pursuant to Part 25 FPR (but not independent social workers instructed by the local authority only and taking the place of the social worker in the preparation of assessments or work with the child);

(e) any NHS Trust involved in the proceedings;

(f) any court appointed experts (but not treating clinicians or medical professionals);

(g) a party’s legal representative;

(h) the judges (which, for the avoidance of doubt, includes any lay justice) involved in the proceedings;

(i) the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), if involved in the proceedings;

(j) anyone else named in a published judgment.

5.4 The template Transparency Order does not prevent publication by a parent of information that they would ordinarily be permitted to publish, for example information concerning their child, if it does not relate to or refer to the proceedings, the child’s involvement in those proceedings or the evidence concerning that child within the case.

5.5 The template Transparency Order permits parties to discuss the proceedings with a Reporter and permits a Reporter to quote parties in their reporting, without this being a contempt of court.

5.6 The template Transparency Order does not permit the parties to themselves publish information from the proceedings where this would otherwise amount to contempt of court (including by virtue of section 12 Administration of Justice Act 1960). This includes re-publishing any media articles or blogs written about the case under the pilot, where accompanied by comment that may identify the child concerned.

5.7 The template Transparency Order contains provision which retrospectively permits parties and their legal representatives to have discussions inviting Reporters to attend a hearing. However, no permission is granted for Reporters to report such discussions or to see any documents until a Transparency Order is made.

5.8 The template Transparency Order provides that it applies to Reporters that attend a hearing, and to any further reporting of the proceedings.

Transparency Orders: documents and data

6.1 A Transparency Order must provide that a Reporter attending any hearing must be given a copy of the Transparency Order.

6.2 The template Transparency Order provides that, on request, a Reporter is entitled to be provided with copies of, see, and quote from-

(a) the following documents drafted by a legal representative, or by a litigant in person: case outlines, summaries, position statements (including skeleton arguments), threshold documents, and chronologies;

(b) any indices from the court bundle (see Practice Direction 27A).

Transparency orders: considerations for the court

7.1 This section sets out matters the court may wish to take into account when considering whether to make a Transparency Order and, if so, what the terms of such an order should be.

7.2 As noted in paragraph 5.1, there is a template form of Transparency Order, but the court may modify the terms of the template Transparency Order as appropriate on the facts of the case.

7.3 The court retains a discretion to direct that there should be no reporting of the case.

7.4 The court may depart from the transparency principle in any case. In deciding whether to restrict reporting, the court should consider the rights of the family and parties to a fair trial under Article 6 the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”), to a private and family life under Article 8 ECHR, and of the press, parties and public under Article 10 ECHR. The court should balance these rights in assessing whether reporting is appropriate.

7.5 The facts that-

(a) Reporters are aware of the existence and terms of this Practice Direction and know in general terms what the terms of a Transparency Order are likely to involve; and

(b) Reporters may if they wish attend such hearings and make representations about the terms of any individual order,
may be considered by the court, in combination, sufficient to meet the notice requirements of s12(2) Human Rights Act 1998, and prior notice of the court’s intention making of making a Transparency Order is therefore not required.

7.6 Where the court makes a Transparency Order, the court retains a discretion to later vary or discharge the Transparency Order or to direct that there should be no (further) reporting of the case. This discretion may be exercised of the court’s own motion or on application by a party or a Reporter.

7.7 The Court may also determine that there should be no reporting, or restricted or delayed reporting of all, or part, of the proceedings (see the paragraphs above relating to the content of a Transparency Order). The Court may also consider whether reporting should be restricted for a certain period or up to an event, for example a criminal trial.

7.8 Where there are parallel criminal proceedings, and a party or the police seek to postpone reporting, the court will have due regard to the principles set out in caselaw.

7.9 Care should be exercised in respect of authorising interviews by a Reporter with a party to proceedings where a party has a vulnerability, or is a protected party.

7.10 Whether a Transparency Order is made in the template form or in amended form, the Transparency Order must be specific, so those to whom it applies know exactly what it permits. This gives everybody clarity, and ensures that the court will be able to act on any alleged contempt.

7.11 In a complex case with a number of parties or children, the Court may consider adding a schedule to the Transparency Order to include a form of anonymisation that may be permitted (e.g. Family A, Child BB etc).

Cases that require careful consideration

7.12 When deciding whether to make, vary or discharge a Transparency Order the following categories of case will require careful consideration of the various competing rights in the case-

(a) cases where matters relevant to the case are subject to criminal charges, active investigation, or proceedings, where reporting may cause prejudice to those proceedings;

(b) applications that are made without notice, where reporting and or/publication of the hearing or facts would cause prejudice to the applicant;

(c) cases where it is particularly difficult to achieve anonymity for the child;

(d) cases involving protected parties, and in particular cases where the Official Solicitor acts as a litigation friend;

(e) cases in the Family Drug and Alcohol Court (FDAC) where the appointment is a hearing within the meaning of rule 27.11 FPR (see also paragraph 2.1A of Practice Direction 27B).

7.13 Where a Reporter wishes to report on a without notice application, the court may postpone a decision on permission to report, or making a Transparency Order, until a hearing where the parties are on notice.