Transcript reveals what one judge really thinks of transparency

by Lucy R | Nov 30, 2023 | Cases, Comment, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Notorious, Reporting Pilot, Transparency News

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

by Louise Tickle | Nov 30, 2023 | Cases, Comment, FCReportingWatch, Notorious, Reporting Pilot, Transparency News

“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...

The Cafcass in-house psychological service – our unanswered questions

by reporting watch team | Nov 19, 2023 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, FOI

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...

Open Justice Today – speech by the Lord Chief Justice

by Paul M | Oct 1, 2023 | Comment, Transparency News, Trends

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...

Holding a fact finding hearing in the absence of the perpetrator

by Julie Doughty | Aug 6, 2023 | Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Reporting Pilot

I recently attended a hearing at Cardiff Family Court as a legal blogger under the Reporting Pilot, in the hope of finding out more about QLRs (under the ‘qualified legal representative’ scheme), as we discussed in this post: What’s a QLR and what’s all the fuss...

Contempt of court – yet more confusion and inconsistency over naming of guilty party

by Paul M | Aug 1, 2023 | Comment, Court of Protection, Explanation

Yet again a judgment in a contempt of court case has revealed problems around transparency and open justice. The case is Esper v NHS North West London Integrated Care Board [2023] EWCOP 29; [2023] WLR(D) 300, and is a decision of Mr Justice Poole. This case has also...