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Why reporting on family justice matters | TBIJ
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https://thebureau-investigates.transforms.svdcdn.com/production/uploads/Justice.jpg?w=600&auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=clip&dm=1486391464&s=f7b4d074cdfdbf063272b332e5bd4a60 600w" sizes="100vw" alt="" /> </div> <div class="tb-c-story-header__heading tb-o-layout-width"> <div class="tb-c-story-header__meta"> <div class="tb-c-crumbs"> <span class="tb-c-crumbs__item tb-c-crumbs__item--date">30.01.23</span> <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/topics/justice" class="tb-c-crumbs__item tb-c-crumbs__item--topic">Justice</a> <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/projects/family-justice" class="tb-c-crumbs__item tb-c-crumbs__item--project">Family Court Files</a> </div> </div> <h1 class="tb-c-story-header__title tb-js-no-orphans">Why reporting on family justice matters</h1> </div> </header> <div class="tb-o-fixed-left-sidebar"> <div class="tb-o-layout-width"> <aside class="tb-o-fixed-left-sidebar__inner tb-c-story-tbij tb-c-story-tbij--red"> <p class="tb-c-story-tbij__body-text"> We expose injustice and spark change. Help change the world by becoming a Bureau Insider </p> <a class="tb-c-story-tbij__link" href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/support-us" >Support TBIJ</a> </aside> </div> </div> <div class="tb-c-story__body"> <div id="block-1"></div> <div class="tb-o-story-section"> <div class="tb-o-story-section__sidebar"> <div class="tb-c-story-meta"> <p class="tb-c-story-meta__date">Published <b>January 30 2023</b></p> <p class="tb-c-story-meta__authors"> By <a class="tb-c-story-meta__author-name" href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/profile/louisetickle"> Louise Tickle </a> </p> </div> <aside class="tb-c-story-breakout tb-c-story-breakout--partners"> <div class="tb-c-story-breakout__body"> <p>TBIJ co-publishes its stories with major media outlets around the world so they reach as many people as possible.</p> </div> <a class="tb-c-story-breakout__link" href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/about-us/use-our-work">Find out how to use our work</a> </aside> </div> <div class="tb-o-story-section__body"> <div class="tb-c-story-text-block"> <p dir="ltr">The family justice system generally operates in private. The law prevents the detail of what takes place in family proceedings about children from being published – or even spoken about – by family members, other parties to the case or accredited journalists. It may be a contempt of court to do so. A separate law provides for anonymity for children, and by extension, their family members, until the conclusion of proceedings (a judge may extend this for longer).</p> <p dir="ltr">And yet life-changing powers are exercised daily by the state in these hidden hearings, with little outside scrutiny or effective, independent accountability.</p> <p dir="ltr">Family judges’ powers include:</p><ul><li>Extinguishing the legal relationship between parent and child when ordering adoption</li><li>Removing newborn babies at birth</li><li>Ordering children to be removed into state care for their own protection</li><li>Deprivation of a child’s liberty including the use of physical and chemical restraint</li><li>Deciding whether domestic abuse and sexual assault has taken place or not</li><li>Protection from forced marriage, honour-based abuse or female genital mutilation</li><li>Imposing non-molestation orders with serious criminal sanctions</li><li>Limiting or preventing a parent from having contact with their child</li><li>Deciding on how finances and assets should be split when a couple divorces.</li></ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-2"></div> <div class="tb-o-story-section"> <div class="tb-o-story-section__sidebar"> <aside class="tb-c-story-breakout tb-c-story-breakout--red"> <h4 class="tb-c-story-breakout__header">Disclaimer</h4> <div class="tb-c-story-breakout__body"> <p>This website is intended to provide general guidance only. Nothing on this website is offered or intended as legal advice. What is and is not permitted may differ from case to case depending on the individual circumstances. If you are unsure what is or is not permitted, you should seek legal advice before publication or sharing information.</p> </div> </aside> </div> <div class="tb-o-story-section__body"> <div class="tb-c-story-text-block"> <p dir="ltr">With family courts in England and Wales hearing more than 200,000 cases a year, involving hundreds of thousands of family members and tens of thousands of children, the public interest in understanding family justice processes and orders is both urgent and compelling.</p> <p dir="ltr">On 1 November 2022, the House of Commons justice select committee published a report, <em>Open justice: court reporting in the digital age</em>, which stated that the laws governing the reporting of family court proceedings were “no longer fit for purpose” and recommended that they should be “reviewed and reformed”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Twelve months earlier almost to the day, Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the family division, published his own review of transparency in the family court, in which he said there must be a period of “accelerated change”.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-3"></div> <div class="tb-o-story-section"> <div class="tb-o-story-section__sidebar"> <aside class="tb-c-story-breakout tb-c-story-breakout--light"> <div class="tb-c-story-breakout__body"> <p><p dir="ltr"><strong>Official enquiries</strong> <p dir="ltr">Media enquiries to the judicial organisers of the pilot can be sent to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#9cecf5f0f3e8efdce8f4f9e8f5fbb2f3eefbb2e9f7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2f5f4643405b5c6f5b474a5b464801405d48015a44">[email protected]</span></a> <p dir="ltr"><strong>Media support</strong> <p dir="ltr">If you’re a journalist and still have questions about how the pilot operates, please contact <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0761666a6e6b7e6468727573744773656e6d2964686a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d8beb9b5b1b4a1bbb7adaaacab98acbab1b2f6bbb7b5">[email protected]</span></a></p> </div> </aside> </div> <div class="tb-o-story-section__body"> <div class="tb-c-story-text-block"> <p dir="ltr">As a result of the president’s review of transparency, a family court reporting pilot is due to start in three areas of England and Wales on 30 January 2023. Under a new Practice Guidance which varies the ban on reporting that normally prevails, journalists attending family court hearings in these three areas will be allowed to report for the first time the detail of what takes place in court – subject to strict anonymity for the family members involved.<br /></p> <p dir="ltr">The pilot is taking place in four courts in three areas, Cardiff, Carlisle and Leeds – for details on these courts please see the map below.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-4"></div> <div class="tb-o-story-section tb-o-story-section--full-width"> <div class="tb-c-story-iframe tb-c-story-iframe--full-width"> <div class="tb-c-story-iframe__iframe-wrapper tb-js-story-iframe-wrapper" style="padding-bottom: 800px;"> <iframe data-cookieconsent="necessary" name="frame-575683" id="frame-575683" data-src="https://uploads.knightlab.com/storymapjs/80c2010a7a688bc9ca7c8620e713bb40/family-court-reporting-pilot-areas/index.html" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-5"></div> <div class="tb-o-story-section"> <div class="tb-o-story-section__body"> <div class="tb-c-story-text-block"> <h2><strong>Find out more</strong></h2> <p><strong><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/what-the-new-family-court-reporting-guidance-says">What the new guidance says</a><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/how-to-safely-preserve-anonymity-in-the-family-courts"><br />How to preserve anonymity</a><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/communicating-with-family-members"><br />Communicating with family members</a><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/interacting-with-lawyers-in-family-court"><br />Interacting with lawyers</a><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/how-to-operate-in-family-court-and-what-to-think-about-before-you-arrive"><br />What to think about before you arrive in court</a><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/family-court-reporting-faq"><br />FAQ</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/family-court-pilot-im-a-family-member-what-can-i-expect"><br />Information for family members</a></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-01-30/family-court-pilot-interacting-with-journalists-as-a-lawyer">Information for lawyers</a></strong><strong><br /></strong></p> </div> </div> </div> <div id="block-6"></div> <div class="tb-c-story-box-out"> <div id="block-1"></div> <div class="tb-o-story-section"> <div class="tb-o-story-section__body"> <div class="tb-c-story-text-block"> <p><em>Header image: The Royal Courts of Justice</em></p> <p><em>This resource was funded by Bureau Local funders. None of our funders have any influence over the Bureau’s editorial decisions or output.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Coordinator:</strong> Louise Tickle<br /><strong>With thanks to:</strong> <a href="https://rightsofwomen.org.uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rights of Women</a>, <a href="https://www.stjohnschambers.co.uk/profile/lucy-reed/family-divorce" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Lucy Reed</a></em></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Please contact <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#0167606c686d78626e747375417563686b2f626e6c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b7d1d6dadedbced4d8c2c5c3f7c3d5dedd99d4d8da">[email protected]</span></a> with any questions or comments about the content of this site.</em></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="tb-o-story-section"> <div class="tb-o-story-section__body"> <ul class="font-sans leading-normal pb-8"> <li> <h2 class="inline font-bold">Area: </h2> <ul class="inline list list-comma "> <li class="tb-c-story-text-block inline"> <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/tags/area-local">Local</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li> <h2 class="inline font-bold">Subject: </h2> <ul class="inline list list-comma "> <li class="tb-c-story-text-block inline"> <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/tags/subject-family-courts">Family courts</a> </li> <li class="tb-c-story-text-block inline"> <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/tags/subject-justice-system">Justice system</a> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="tb-o-layout-width"> <div class="tb-c-story-authors tb-js-fixed-sidebar-stop-here"> <h4 class="tb-c-story-authors__heading">About The Author</h4> <div class="tb-c-story-author"> <h5 class="tb-c-story-author__name">Louise Tickle</h5> <a class="tb-c-story-author__profile-link" href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/profile/louisetickle">More by Louise Tickle</a> </div> </div> </div> </article><!-- /.story --> <div class="tb-c-context-footer"> 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