Posts
Journalist allowed to read psychologist’s reports
A significant decision has been made by Mr Justice Poole in the High Court, allowing a journalist access to a number of psychological reports that were commissioned in family proceedings. Although when a Transparency Order (TO) is made under the Reporting...
ChatGPT and Transparency Orders
This is a guest post by Alex Cisneros, barrister at 39 Essex Chambers. Although it is primarily concerned with cases in the Court of Protection, the risks of using AI apply equally to family law cases, particularly where they have been or will be heard in private. I...
‘Much loved’ two-year-old to be adopted following contested court proceedings
‘Tomas’ is a two year old boy who was removed from his parents to live in foster care under an interim care order in January 2025. (None of the parties’ real names are used in this post.) In a three-day final hearing in November, care and placement for adoption orders...
Tributes to Sir James Munby, former President of the Family Division
We have collected some of the obituaries and public tributes to Sir James, focusing mainly on his contribution to family justice. Sir James was a proactive supporter of The Transparency Project. He passed away on 1st January. Patrick Kidd, 'Outspoken leader of...
Rules for online court hearings – consultation
The Covid lockdown period provided unexpected opportunities to discover the advantages and disadvantages of holding court hearings 'remotely' online. Currently, family courts prefer to hold hearings in person but there's a general move toward more cases being heard...
Sir James Munby’s greatest hits: an appreciation of his work
If you have been to family court, there is a good chance that your case was influenced by decisions made by Sir James Munby, who has died aged 77. As a barrister, as a judge, and finally as President of the Family Division – the most senior family judge in the...
The Open Justice Principle and access to local authority documents
A heavily redacted judgment about a BBC application to the Family Court appeared on BAILII and The National Archives (TNA) in December (last month) although it had been delivered a year earlier. We can also see from the number – 421 – that this was allocated by TNA...
Sir James Munby
We are very sad to learn of the death last week of Sir James Munby, the former President of the Family Division and an active supporter of The Transparency Project. No doubt much will be said in the next few days about Sir James' huge contribution to family justice...
Children and parents speak up about the Pathfinder in private law – new research published
The evaluation of children and families’ experiences in the first stage of the Pathfinder Pilot was published this week by the Ministry of Justice, ‘Understanding the experience of children and families’. This research covers interviews during August – December 2024...
Some Transparency Project News
On 1 January 2026. our founder and chair, Lucy Reed KC, will commence her two year term as Vice Chair of the Family Law Bar Association. Consequently, Lucy will be stepping back from her role as chair of The Transparency Project. Fellow founding member and trustee, Dr...