Posts
Transcript reveals what one judge really thinks of transparency
I begin this post by saying frankly that the transcript I have just read is shocking. If I had been told what was in it, I would not have believed it. Not so much the individual errors, but the combination of so many things gone wrong in one single transcript. Before...
When a judge prefers his own biases to the law, all is lost
“If you want to know my view on the transparency project, it is not supportive. I have always felt these cases are deeply private, and my judgments are there really for the parents, to help them, to help the families, they are not for public consumption or to allow...
Behind closed doors – a transcript from a private hearing
In August this year, a journalist attempted to observe the first day of a multi-day final hearing in a private children case. She was refused access by the judge, His Honour Judge Haigh. The following day, another journalist [Louise Tickle, who is a member of The...
The Cafcass in-house psychological service – our unanswered questions
We wrote about the Cafcass in-house psychology service 'that no one seemed to know about' back in April and again in October. We received replies on 10 November from Cafcass Governance to our follow-up freedom of information questions. We weren't satisfied with these...
Pilot’s Progress
Some news. The Reporting Pilot now running in 3 courts will shortly be extended to Magistrates in those courts. The Reporting Pilot will be rolled out in a number of other courts from January 2024. As with the first 3 pilot courts the new courts will first bring...
National Psychology Service – Still in the dark
UPDATE 25.11.23: We have now received replies to our follow-up questions and will publish these, and our views on them, next week. In April we wrote a blog post: The ‘Psychology Service’ for family court cases that nobody seems to know about:...
Open Justice Today – speech by the Lord Chief Justice
In one of his last speeches before retiring as the head of the judiciary of England & Wales, Lord Burnett of Maldon congratulated the courts on the way technology had enhanced open justice through live streaming, media access to remote hearings, and the...
Not enough legal blogging under the reporting pilots? We explore why that might be…
We've heard rumbles a couple of times in recent months, along the lines of 'not enough legal blogging' under the new reporting pilots in Cardiff, Carlisle and Leeds family court centres. They've got us thinking about how many legal blogging hours we are putting in...
Open Justice: the way forward
In May this year, the Ministry of Justice issued a call for evidence from all interested parties, including the judiciary, legal professionals, the media, businesses, academics, law and technology experts and court and tribunal users on how they think the government...
The Transparency Review, reviewed
As the two year anniversary of the publication of the Transparency Review approaches, how does Sir Andrew McFarlane’s acknowledgment of the need for a major shift in culture and process to increase the transparency of the family justice system, and his promises of a...