Family Court Reporting Week: judge praises ‘impeccable’ journalism produced by pilot project

A judge has praised the “impeccable” standard of journalism published about cases at his court, under a pilot aimed at bringing transparency to the family courts system.

Judge Steven Parker was referring to reporting by the BBC on the surge in “deprivation of liberty” orders being made for children with serious emotional and psychological difficulties, for whom social workers then struggle to find lawful “secure” placements.

Parker, the designated family judge for Cheshire and Merseyside, was speaking at the first of five events held to mark the first ever Family Court Reporting Week, initiated and run by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

As well as the event at Liverpool Family Court, there were also events at courts in Derby, Leeds, Luton and Manchester.

Under a law enacted in 1960, independent reporting on the way state powers are exercised in family courts is ordinarily banned. However, in courts covered by the transparency pilot, the starting position is now that journalists may report details of proceedings, under conditions of strict anonymity.

The aim of Family Court Reporting Week was to encourage more coverage of the family courts, where the presumption against reporting has been reversed thanks to the pilot launched by the President of the Family Division in January last year. It is due to be rolled out to all family courts in England and Wales in early 2025.

The family courts deal with cases which include adoption, removal of children into foster care, domestic abuse, international child abduction, female genital mutilation and disputes between parents over contact with children.

About 150 people from the media, family law, judiciary, social services, police and Cafcass attended the events at which TBIJ representatives, including the country’s first full-time family court reporter Hannah Summers, spoke and answered questions on panels made up of judges and family barristers.

Twenty-seven journalists from local and national media showed an active interest in reporting on family courts. Seven attended hearings in or around Family Court Reporting Week, including one reporter from the Times who spent five days split between West London Family Court and Birmingham Family Court.

Nicole Wootton-Cane, a reporter at the Manchester Evening News, covered a case at Manchester Family Justice Centre after being mentioned for the day FCRW coordinator Louise Tickle.

“It was really positive to see it was well read and we've had a lot of people reaching out to us since, so definitely well worth doing,” she said.

Bournemouth Daily Echo reporter Hannah Knight attended Bournemouth Family Court following discussions with Dorset’s designated family judge Christopher Simmonds on which cases might be of interest.

Hannah said: “It was a very informative day. The judge was very helpful and recommended a few cases for me to sit in on. I even had a father attempt to make me leave, but the judge backed me and said I was very welcome which was nice to see. My editor and I have realised how lucky we are to have the pilot here and will be having a discussion soon on how we can utilise it.”

TBIJ provided tailored support to journalists wanting to make their first foray into family court reporting, including liaising with courts regarding cases of interest, and arranging for a reporter or barrister with experience of attending court to accompany reporters as mentors for a day.

Five pieces of reporting directly attributable to the initiative were commissioned, with three articles already run. In addition, four well-researched and evocatively reported blogposts describing a week of hearings at two London family courts, written by freelance journalist Lara Feigel, were published by the nonprofit Right to Equality to mark Family Court Reporting Week.

TBIJ hopes to run a similar initiative next year, when the Reporting Pilot will have expanded to encompass all family courts and magistrates dealing with family cases across England and Wales.