An end to secrecy in family courts? Proposed reforms of contempt of court law that could lift the threats to sharing information

by Julie Doughty | Nov 27, 2025 | Comment, Consultations, Court of Protection, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

It’s common knowledge that people involved in family court proceedings held in private are very restricted in what they can say about what’s happening. There are well-established and accepted restrictions on naming children (under section 97 Children Act 1989). The...

Judgment given and published in Welsh

by reporting watch team | Sep 30, 2025 | Cases, Court of Protection

Thanks to Alex Ruck-Keene who noticed last week that BAILII had published a Court of Protection judgment by HHJ Edwards in Cardiff in the Welsh language. It’s TIRE (by her Litigation Friend LK) v Carmarthenshire County Council [2024] EWCOP 81 (T2). [UPDATE...

Sending a mother to prison for contempt of court

by reporting watch team | Aug 14, 2025 | Cases, Court of Protection, FCReportingWatch, Open Reporting

This post by Celia Kitzinger on the Open Justice Court of Protection Project site, ‘Sentencing in contempt proceedings’, is actually a Family Court case. Celia explains why the hearing caught her eye in the lists, how she observed it, and why she has...

Are young people losing their freedom because of Deprivation of Liberty Orders?

by Guest Post | Apr 6, 2025 | Comment, Court of Protection, FCReportingWatch

This is a guest post by Victoria Butler Cole KC. Victoria is a barrister at 39 Essex and you can find her on Bluesky @torbc.bsky.social. The BBC recently published an article about the experiences of a young woman who had spent time in a range of placements including...

Serious medical treatment – the importance of the public record

by Guest Post | Apr 25, 2024 | Cases, Court of Protection

This is a guest post by Alex Ruck Keene KC (Hon) reproduced with his permission from the Mental Capacity Law and Policy blog. In 2014, a (relatively) very long time ago, Sir James Munby, then President of the Court of Protection, issued guidance on the publication of...

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...