Posts
Contempt of Court : The Law Commission’s Consultation – A Response
This is Sir James Munby's response to the Law Commission's current open consultation. The consultation is open until 8 November. Sir James is the previous President of the Family Division. The Transparency Project will be submitting its own response (covering issues...
‘Have you thought about giving notice?’
It has taken five months for us to be able to tell this story. Ordinary cases matter. Open Justice shouldn’t be this hard.
Keep out! When justice cannot be seen to be done, how do we know it’s been done?
This is Paul’s account of how he tried and failed to observe a simple family court hearing in the magistrates court. Open Justice shouldn’t be this hard.
When is an intermediary necessary? – a case study
In March, we wrote about a case, West Northamptonshire Council (acting via Northamptonshire Children’s Trust) v KA (Mother & Anor) (Intermediaries) [2024] EWHC 79 (Fam) in which Mrs Justice Lieven had included some general guidance on when an intermediary should...
First ever ‘Family Court Reporting Week’ is launched by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
To encourage more reporting on the life-changing decisions that take place in family courts, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) will run a series of events, mentoring and practical “at-court” support for journalists around the country as part of its first...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup
Welcome to the Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family law, explain and comment on published family court judgments, and highlight other transparency news. MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY LAW, TRANSPARENCY etc The Guardian kicked off the...
Our approach to social media
The Transparency Project is an educational charity1. Our objectives are To advance the education of the public in the subject of family law and its administration, including the family justice system in England and Wales and the work of the family courts, in...
An update on the family courts from ‘top judge’
An end-of-term report was published by Sir Andrew McFarlane, the President of the Family Division, on 31 July. It covered myriad topics, so here’s a summary, with a few observations added. We should clarify that this is not the Family Court Annual Report (still...
Why we don’t know what’s going on in family courts
We hear a lot about ‘secret’ family courts because of reporting restrictions and family privacy, but there is more to genuine transparency than holding processes out in the open. To understand how a system is operating we need information based on reliable data across...
Air Conditioning, Astroturf, and Transparency Orders
This is a guest post from Anna Yarde. Anna is a barrister at Harcourt Chambers. Lauryn Goodman v Kyle Andrew Walker [2024] EWFC 212 (B) This is a case about an influencer, a famous footballer, infidelity and lavish spending. It is also a case about transparency and...