Reporting pilot in Family Court to be launched next week, allowing accredited media and legal bloggers into court under ‘Transparency Orders’

The ‘Transparency Implementation Group Reporting Pilot’ is to be launched in family courts in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle next week (30 January).

The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, said the aim of the pilot was to introduce “a presumption that accredited media and legal bloggers may report on what they see and hear during family court cases, subject to strict rules of anonymity”.

Sir Andrew added: “The ability to report is being piloted to make sure it can be done safely and with minimum disruption to those involved in the cases, and the courts.”

This will be done through judges in these courts making a ‘Transparency Order’, which sets out the rules of what can and cannot be reported.

Earlier this week Mr Justice Poole issued such an order in the Family Court in Leeds in BR & Ors, Re (Transparency Order: Finding of Fact Hearing) [2023] EWFC 9.

The Reporting Pilot is the pilot scheme for one of the main recommendations from the President of the Family Division’s Transparency Review, which was published in October 2021.

In the report, the President noted that many of the decisions made in family cases involved judges and magistrates “exercising a degree of discretion”, and therefore it was legitimate for the public to know of these judgments, to “provide a basis for trust in the soundness of the court’s approach and its decisions, or to establish a ground for concern in that regard”.

Therefore, he noted that the aim of the reporting pilot would be to enhance public confidence, whilst at the same time “firmly protecting continued confidentiality.”

Only “pilot reporters” may attend and report on proceedings taking place in a designated RP Court. A “pilot reporter” is any duly accredited representative of a news gathering or reporting organisation or duly authorised lawyer (legal blogger), who may attend a hearing under FPR r.27.11.

The President of the Family Division said: “The reporting pilot in Leeds, Carlisle and Cardiff marks the start of the judiciary’s ongoing work to make transparency in the Family Court a reality. Openness and confidentiality are not irreconcilable, and each is achievable. The aim of the pilot is to understand the impact of open reporting and to enhance public confidence, whilst at the same time firmly protecting continued confidentiality.

“Following the publication of the Transparency Review in October 2021, and over a year of discussions with practitioners, journalists, legal bloggers and other stakeholders, accredited media representatives and legal bloggers in the pilot areas will be able, not only to attend and observe family court hearings, but also to report publicly on what they see and hear. Reporting must be subject to very clear rules to maintain both the anonymity of the children and family members who are before the court, and confidentiality with respect of intimate details of their private lives.”

Sir Andrew added: “The pilot is a work in progress, and the judges in each area, practitioners and media will be monitoring the transparency orders, and the process, as cases come to court. The reporting pilot is one aspect of the work being done to open up the Family Court, there are other working groups for data collection, financial remedies, and anonymisation and publication of judgments.”

Full details of the pilot including detailed guidance for reporters can be found on the Reporting Pilot page.

Lottie Winson