Journalists and bloggers can now report on family law cases as they happen following a landmark pilot project. Sir Andrew Macfarlane, President of the Family Division, called this ‘a watershed moment for family justice’ which will ‘improve public understanding and confidence in the Family Court.’

This scheme, piloted in January 2023, only initially covered family public law, but has now been extended to cover private law cases like custody battles and divorce proceedings.

Bloggers and journalists will now be given the green light to report on family law cases as long as they obtain a ‘Transparency Order’ from a Judge which sets strict rules to be followed on what can be disclosed.

Lucy Reed KC, chair of the Transparency Project, a charity established in 2015 to promote transparency in the family justice system, welcomed the initiative. As quoted in the Guardian, she said that ‘finding ways to make the family court more transparent, accountable, and understandable is not easy when much of the work the courts deal with is so sensitive. However, it is critically important if the family court is to build and maintain public trust and confidence.’

There has been resistance from some to opening up the family courts to the media. During the pilot period, in 2023, a senior judge made comments during a private hearing expressing concern about the transparency project. As reported by the BBC, Judge Haigh said that ‘I have always felt these cases are deeply private, and my judgments are primarily for the parents, to help them. They are not for public consumption or to allow journalists to further their ambitions.’

The study of the pilot project considered the risk of sensationalist reporting that could give a ‘misleading impression of family courts.’ But it found that this ‘did not occur’ during the pilot period.

Another concern which was ‘consistently raised’ in the study was the risk of ‘jigsaw identification’ where reported details of cases contained within reporting risked identifying children and their families. According to a BBC report, solicitors have expressed concerns that clients might be reluctant to give ‘highly personal evidence’ if they could be identified. The study however found a lower risk than expected of unintentionally identifying people and that training could minimise this risk.

Sir Andrew Macfarlane stated that ‘there have been no known breaches of anonymity of children, and the aims of the pilot, to increase public understanding and awareness of the family court, are being realised.’ He further stated that ‘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.’