New court reporting rules mark ‘watershed moment for family justice’

As of today, journalists and legal bloggers will be able to report on family court cases across England and Wales in what has been described as “a watershed moment for family justice”.

The change comes after the success of a two-year transparency pilot and means the media will be better able to inform the public about the life-changing decisions being made every day by family court judges.

Any journalist attending family court proceedings needs the judge’s permission to publish what has happened in court. The new rules make this process much easier by enabling journalists to apply for a transparency order – with the presumption that it should be granted unless there is good reason for it not to be. Although judges will retain the power to turn down requests, the emphasis will be on improved transparency and openness.

Transparency orders will protect the anonymity of children and their families but allow journalists to report what happened in court as well as request documents and quote people involved in the proceedings. Under the old rules, parents who had spoken out about their cases could be found in contempt of court.

The president of the family division Sir Andrew McFarlane said: “The establishment of the open reporting provisions in all family courts in England and Wales is a watershed moment for family justice. Improving public understanding and confidence in the family court is of fundamental importance.”

He said the changes follow the success of the reporting pilot which started out in just three courts – Leeds, Carlisle and Cardiff – two years ago before being extended to a further 16.

McFarlane added: “The reporting that we have seen has been significant, and includes coverage of issues affecting some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”

He said that there had been no known breaches of anonymity of children and that the aims of the pilot to increase public understanding and awareness of the family courts are being realised.

“I am grateful to all in the court system who have supported the pilot, but I would particularly like to thank all of the journalists and legal bloggers who have engaged with the pilot over the last two years and would like to urge them and others to continue to report on these complex and vitally important issues.”

In October 2023, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) reported on one of the first private law cases (involving individuals rather than a local authority) to be brought under the pilot. It described how a mother’s allegation of rape had been dismissed in error before being re-heard on appeal.

And last year TBIJ was able to name a serial rapist who had been granted unsupervised access to his daughter by the family courts. Kristoffer White was later stripped of his parental responsibility.