Posts
The Transparency and Open Justice Board – consultation on key objectives
In April last year, the Lady Chief Justice set up a new Transparency and Open Justice Board, chaired by Mr Justice Nicklin. It aims to lead and coordinate the promotion of transparency and open justice across the courts and tribunals of England & Wales and support...
Guidance on citation of judgments as ‘authorities’
Not all judgments are created equal Some, by more senior judges or courts (essentially High Court judges or above), may be regarded as primary or binding ‘authority’ for the propositions of law which they contain. They lay down the law, which lesser courts and judges...
ASSISTED DYING : WHAT ROLE FOR THE TRIBUNAL? THOUGHTS ON THE LATEST PROPOSALS
This is a guest post by Sir James Munby, and it follows on from earlier posts about the proposed Assisted Dying reforms here, here and here. In Assisted Dying: What Role for the Judge? More Thoughts, published on the Transparency Project website on 6 December 2024,...
Re XY Twins – another family court judgment names an individual to warn parents
Last week, we wrote on a family court judgment about children that had been published on TNA and BAILII naming an individual party, which we said almost never happened. That’s because of the strict privacy and anonymity rules intended to protect children who are...
Judgment published to warn women against sperm donor who has “180 kids”
A family court judgment published on BAILII and TNA last month exposed prolonged harassment of the parents of a small child who had been conceived by sperm donation - by a man they'd met on social media who they thought had unselfishly offered to help them start their...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup: January 2025
Welcome to the Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on the previous month's media reports of family law, explain and comment on published family court judgments, and highlight other recent transparency news. MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY LAW, TRANSPARENCY...
Identification of judges in Sara Sharif family court history
Amidst all the concern about the anonymisation of the family court judges in the historical decisions made about placing Sara Sharif with her father, we should not lose sight of the fact that Mr Justice Williams allowed the media extensive access to documents that...
New court rules allow more reporting from family courts
What was introduced as the Reporting 'Pilot' in 2023 is now a permanent change in family courts, to allow more reporting by journalists and legal bloggers. Within a few months, reporting will be easier in almost all family court cases. The changes are being rolled out...
Injuries to a baby: Part 2 – the court’s decisions
This post follows on from the first part of my report on care proceedings in Cardiff Family Court published here. I was uncertain as to exactly what the judge would decide about who had caused Claire's injuries. There were no Perry Mason moments of discovery and...
Injuries to a baby: Part 1 – a mystery to be solved by the family court
One evening in autumn 2023, a young couple took their five month old baby to an emergency hospital where she was diagnosed with numerous physical injuries (some very serious) which the parents couldn’t explain. Local authority children’s services were called in and...