Posts
FAMILY COURT REPORTING WATCH ROUNDUP
Welcome to the Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family court cases, explain and comment on published family court judgments and highlight other transparency news MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY COURT MATTERS Linktastic BBC News - BBC...
Transparency Implementation Group – what’s actually happening?
We're increasingly aware of a mistaken impression held by some people interested in family justice transparency that we (The Transparency Project - a charity) are the same thing as the TIG - Transparency Implementation Group (a group set up by the President of the...
Archie Battersbee – best interests assessment in the High Court
The Archie Battersbee litigation has featured a series of different applications. The first, back in April 2022, resulted in a decision that it was lawful for clinicians to undertake brain stem testing, despite the parent’s objections. The brain stem testing could not...
News from the 8th open FJC meeting: getting the covert recording guidance done
I registered for the latest Family Justice Council open meeting to find out what was going on, and to ask about the long-promised guidance on covert recording. The covert recording guidance turned out to be on the agenda. But the meeting was generally...
Defamation and domestic abuse – an update
The judgment in Lee v Brown [2022] 1699 EWHC (QB) has now been published on TNA. We wrote about the case after I attended one day of a hearing on 20 June. This update isn’t going to go into detail on defamation law but will, I hope, explain further why I...
Archie Battersbee Case – The hearing in the Court of Appeal
Background on the case so far The case concerns 12-year-old Archie, who is currently receiving mechanical ventilation in hospital following an accident in the home in April 2022, which led to brain damage. In May, the court granted permission for Archie to receive...
The National Archives and Family Court transparency – a temporary glitch?
The drive over the last decade toward greater Family Court transparency has been hugely dependent on the rapid and efficient publication of judgments by BAILII. So when, last year, it was announced that The National Archives would be taking over the primary function...
Remote observation of court hearings – new rules
UPDATE 24 JULY: This post has been amended to further clarify the position in the Court of Protection. From today, Tuesday 28 June 2022, courts will have new powers to allow journalists and members of the public to observe hearings remotely. While many judges will now...
Domestic abuse and defamation
This is a post about a defamation trial where one party (the claimant - C) is claiming the other party (the defendant - D) has caused his reputation serious harm by making statements that allege domestic abuse by C against D. Far removed from the recent Depp-Heard...
The unintended consequences of law – a postscript
Not long ago I wrote a tiresomely long post about what I will call the transparency in financial remedy (FR) cases, a topic about which there has been much recent debate (see Very Much Ancillary). Others may quibble about the use of the term ‘transparency’ but to me...