Repealing ‘the presumption” – an explainer

by reporting watch team | Oct 28, 2025 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, Trends

Section 1(2A) of the Children Act 1989, as amended in 2014, states that, with regard to applications for child arrangements orders under Section 8: A court … is as respects each parent … to presume, unless the contrary is shown, that involvement of that parent in the...

Can a court make a journalist reveal their source of information about a family court hearing?

by Julie Doughty | Jun 17, 2025 | Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Open Reporting

A recently published judgment, Louise Tickle v The Father & Ors [2025] EWFC 160 is helpful in reaffirming journalists’ rights to protect the confidentiality of their sources, specifically in the context of a Family Court case. This judgment about sources of...

Can secret recordings be used as evidence in court?

by Julie Doughty | May 22, 2025 | Comment, Consultations

If you record a meeting or conversation about your children, without people being aware you’re recording them, can you then produce and rely on that recording as part of your evidence to a family court? This is a question that has been hanging around for several years...

Cross examination of medical experts – exceptional or exceptionally important?

by Lucy R | May 18, 2025 | Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Open Reporting

What this post is about When medical expert witnesses are instructed in family cases, usually to help work out how an injury to a child was caused, their evidence can sometimes be accepted by all the parties, in which case the expert doesn’t need to attend court to...

SECTION 12 – YET MORE CONFUSION

by Lucy Reed | Apr 10, 2025 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Open Reporting, Transparency News

This is a guest post by Sir James Munby, former President of the Family Division. On 2 April 2025 Harris J handed down her reserved judgment in M v F and C [2025] EWHC 801 (Fam). The case had first come to public attention when the hearing on 20 February 2025 was...

Evaluation of the Pathfinder Pilot in Private Law – published

by Julie Doughty | Apr 8, 2025 | Comment

This announcement appeared quietly on the Ministry of Justice website on 25 March –  Private Law Pathfinder Pilot: process evaluation and financial analysis This report provides the findings of the process evaluation and exploratory financial analysis of...