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Family Courts Open Up to the Media

17 February 2009

The Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced on 6th April 2009 that Family Courts will open their doors to the media from 27th April 2009. There has been mounting pressure for years to increase the transparency of the Family Courts although practitioners have expressed concerns about protecting vulnerable children and families during a difficult and traumatic period in their lives.

The Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced on 6th April 2009 that Family Courts will open their doors to the media from 27th April 2009. There has been mounting pressure for years to increase the transparency of the Family Courts although practitioners have expressed concerns about protecting vulnerable children and families during a difficult and traumatic period in their lives. The changes have not been as far reaching as expected however, as it is only those journalists accredited through the British Press Card Scheme who will be admitted. The Scheme will not be open to the foreign media. The Court will still have the power to restrict attendance if it is felt that the child’s welfare requires it and parties to the proceedings will be able to make representations to the Court if they believe that there is a good reason to exclude journalists. There are also real concerns that the medical experts so frequently relied upon in Family Court Proceedings such as Paediatricians, Psychologists and Psychiatrists will move away from Child Protection Work given that their names will be reported within these cases. It will be interesting to see whether there is a market increase in the reporting of these cases after April 27th. Mr. Justice McFarlane has already commented that he believes that the controls imposed upon the press attending are such that the public will probably end up knowing little more about cases than they do already. He felt that only “the process and gist of proceedings” could be reported rather than the detail of any particular case.