Cambridge Family Law Practice

Media reporting of Family Court cases will be highlighted by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in November.

The new Family Court Reporting Week, running for five days from Monday November 4, was devised to encourage greater reporting of cases held within the family-focused division of the English civil court system. This deals with divorce, separation, domestic abuse and arrangements for children, and similar matters, but the courts’ focus on privacy and anonymity has frequently come under scrutiny by the media. The judiciary has responded to such concerns with a concerted effort over a number of years to encourage greater levels of transparency and access for accredited members of the media.

The latest stage in the project was the launch of a ‘reporting pilot’ scheme in January last year. This introduced a presumption in favour of reporting, as long as the anonymity of children and vulnerable adults was protected – which included the strict requirement that children could not be ‘jigsaw-identified’. Initially only three courts took part in the trial – a further three were added in January this year.

But the Bureau of Investigative Journalism believes more could be done to encourage media interest in family cases, and that doing so is in the public interest. It will offer practical support to journalists attending courts around the country during the Family Court Reporting Week.

This support will include:

• mentoring by arrangement for journalists by more experienced colleagues.

• explanatory materials on Family Court procedures.

• guidance on the current transparency pilot scheme.

• introductory events at selected courts.

Bureau editor Gareth Davies explained:

“Going into a private family court hearing can be daunting for any journalist. We want to help reporters feel confident in exercising their reporting rights under the pilot scheme, and the practical support we are offering will hopefully mean more publications decide to run articles showing how the family justice system is operating in practice for the families who depend on it.”

His colleague, journalist Louise Tickle, co-ordinated development of the Family Court Reporting Week. She reflected:

“Ten years of attending family hearings has shown me it is vital for journalists to report on the decision-making of social workers, children’s guardians, court-appointed experts and judges.”

Louise stressed the importance of the media working to hold power to account.

“When draconian powers are exercised out of public view, an independent media presence can be the only check and balance available to families whose lives are indelibly altered by their experience of these courts.”

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism is an independent, not-for-profit media organisation founded in 2010.

Simon Bethel, one of the Partners here at Cambridge Family Law Practice, comments:

“It will be interesting to see if the Family Court Reporting Week will entice journalists into attending more ‘run of the mill’ family court cases, those which don’t involve high profile individuals, often celebrities, or significant wealth. It will be necessary for lawyers to explain to those of their clients who are due in court that week that the chance of a ‘media presence’ is probably higher than usual.”