Cardiff Family Drug & Alcohol Court – a snapshot

by Lucy R | Mar 21, 2023 | Cases, Comment, Legal blogging, Reporting Pilot

On 2 February 2023, I attended the Family Court in Cardiff, aiming to report on cases under the newly launched Reporting Pilot. I identified one case on the court list which I was able both to attend and report. It turned out to be a hearing in the FDAC – the Family...

The Transparency Reporting Pilot: FAQs for legal bloggers

by reporting watch team | Mar 18, 2023 | FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Reporting Pilot, Transparency News

On 2nd February 2023, we ran training for prospective legal bloggers interested in taking part in the Transparency Reporting Pilot. During that training, we received some thoughtful questions which we thought helpful to condense into one blog post, as well as some...

Transparency in the Family Courts and the Court of Protection: what are the differences?

by Paul M | Mar 2, 2023 | Comment, Court of Protection, Legal blogging, Reporting Pilot, Transparency News

With the recent launch of the Transparency Reporting Pilot in the family courts, there may be a risk of confusion over some of the terminology, such as “Transparency Orders”, already used in the Court of Protection, and misunderstanding over the role of “legal...

Family Courts scrutinised by the press – but what do we think of the reporting so far?

by Lucy R | Feb 23, 2023 | Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Reporting Pilot

Nobody who has ever read a newspaper or visited twitter would be expecting new media coverage of the family court, made possible by the ‘reporting pilot’, to be in glowing terms. However, the pilot isn’t a PR exercise, and for transparency to mean anything, we have to...

For her own good – a family court judge authorises the deprivation of a young person’s liberty

by Lucy R | Feb 8, 2023 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging

Last week at a hearing in Cardiff, His Honour Judge Furness KC made orders authorising measures which amounted to a deprivation of the liberty (DoL) of a teenage girl. I observed the hearing under the new Reporting Pilot that is operating in that court. As noted by...

From our Cardiff Correspondent…

by Lucy R | Feb 3, 2023 | FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Reporting Pilot

Yesterday I spent the day at Cardiff Family Court. I attended as a legal blogger, making use of the new Reporting Pilot which launched on Monday (having been unable to attend earlier in the week). I observed two hearings, and I will be able to write a bit about those...