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...

Care proceedings and chronic neglect

by Julie Doughty | Oct 24, 2025 | Cases, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging

Six children, aged between two and twelve, were removed from their parents’ care because they had suffered chronic neglect and emotional harm, after court proceedings that had lasted 28 weeks and local authority involvement for 12 years. I’ve written about two...

Government announces outcome of the review into the family court presumption of involvement of both parents in a child’s life

by reporting watch team | Oct 22, 2025 | FCReportingWatch, FOI, Trends

We’ve sent in a series of requests under the Freedom of Information Act about the review of the presumption of parental involvement since the ‘urgent’ review was announced by the government in 2020. We have been asking about the continued delay in publishing the...

New research shows domestic abuse issues ‘fall by the wayside’ in making decisions about children

by reporting watch team | Oct 16, 2025 | FCReportingWatch, Resources

The Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales (DAC) this week published a report, Everyday Business: Addressing domestic abuse and continuing harm through a family court review and reporting mechanism by Mandy Burton and Rosemary Hunter, Loughborough...

Consultation on allocation and gatekeeping in family courts

by reporting watch team | Oct 11, 2025 | Consultations, FCReportingWatch, Open Reporting

This topic was recently covered in a consultation issued by judges that updates guidance to courts on what level of judge or magistrate should sit on a case and generally how applications received will be efficiently administered. The guidance says that it applies to...

An order for ‘no contact’ at West London Family Court

by Julie Doughty | Oct 10, 2025 | Cases, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging

Earlier this month, I attended a private law hearing held at West London Family Court before His Honour Judge O’Donovan. The judge made a transparency order at the beginning of the hearing. There are some unusual aspects to this case, including a section 91(14) order...

Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup: August-Sept 2025

by reporting watch team | Oct 2, 2025 | Cases, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

Welcome to the Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family law, explain and comment on published family court judgments, and highlight other transparency news. MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY LAW, TRANSPARENCY etc The Financial Times posed 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...

Updated Guidance: What to do when a reporter attends your hearing

by reporting watch team | Sep 29, 2025 | Legal blogging, Open Reporting, Resources, Transparency News

We first published our Guidance Note ‘What to do when a reporter attends (or wants to attend) your hearing’ in 2023. Later, we updated it to account for the expansion of the Reporting Pilot and introduction of the Financial Remedies Pilot, developing two...

Will my Family Court judgment be published?

by reporting watch team | Sep 19, 2025 | FCReportingWatch

This post was amended on 25 September to add a new link on the Judiciary website. We recently received an enquiry from someone who wanted a court judgment in their case to be published and who didn’t know how to go about this. [EDITED 22.09.25 to clarify this...