Messing about on the river (or CoP-Celia, you’re breaking my heart…)

by Lucy R | Aug 19, 2020 | Comment, Court of Protection, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging, Trends

As the summer has worn on, clouds have been gathering. In exchanges with other Transparency Project team members, I’ve been threatening to write a rather sullen blog post about transparency for a few weeks, and have finally been gathering my thoughts on the bow of our...

Spotlight Review: Breaking the Cycle of Failure for LIPs?

by Guest Post | Jul 1, 2020 | Comment, Consultations, Trends

This is a guest post by Dr Jess Mant, Lecturer in Law at Cardiff University School of Law and Politics. Jess was recently awarded a PhD for her study on ‘Litigants in Person and the Family Court: The Accessibility of Private Family Justice After LASPO’. We...

Civil Justice Council report on the impact of COVID-19 on civil courts

by Paul M | Jun 7, 2020 | Comment, Transparency News, Trends

“The rapid expansion of the use of remote hearings has been central to facilitating the continued operation of the justice system”, notes Dr Natalie Byrom in the introduction to her report, for the Civil Justice Council, examining the impact of the changes mandated by...

Open letter from NGOs and academics on open justice in the Covid-19 emergency

by Lucy R | May 29, 2020 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, Trends

In recent weeks, the House of Commons select committee on justice has been assured by members of the government, judiciary and court service that open justice continues, despite changes to the nature of physical hearings, and increased use of technology for many types...

Illusory Open Justice: A Kafkan Attempt to Observe Magistrates Courts in the Time of COVID-19

by Guest Post | May 27, 2020 | Comment, Transparency News, Trends

This is a guest post by Tara Casey, a caseworker in the Women’s Justice Initiative of the charity law practice APPEAL, an organisation dedicated to correcting miscarriages of justice through strategic litigation and campaigning. COVID-19 has taken a hammer to the...

Civil Justice Council Rapid Consultation: The impact of COVID-19 measures on the civil justice system

by Paul M | May 19, 2020 | Consultations, Transparency News, Trends

Following the rapid consultation on the use of remote hearings in the family justice system, undertaken by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory at the request of the President of the Family Division, the Civil Justice Council have now embarked on a similar...