Press reporting on family cases? Read our view -
16 June 2009
Press reporting on family cases? Read our view -
The Head of our Family Department, William Edwards, has criticised government changes which are supposed to open up the family courts to the scrutiny of both the national and local press.
The new rules state that unless specifically excluded by a judge, accredited journalists can now attend custody, care and divorce proceedings. Until now, generally these proceedings have been held in private.
“It is essential that the public have total confidence in the courts that deal with family law,” says William. “However, there is also the necessity to protect the identity of children, which is why until now proceedings concerning children have generally been held in private.”
The nearest family courts used by local practitioners are in Bath, Bristol and Trowbridge. Do the new rules mean that anyone getting divorced in a local court can now find all their family dirty washing displayed over the front page of the weekly newspaper?
“Mercifully not,” explains William. “The new rules may well allow a local journalist to go into a family court,” says William. “However, the new rules also state that they are not allowed to report on what they actually hear in court. A cynic may claim that the new rules supposedly put in place to make family law courts “less secret” are no more than a sop to various pressure groups. In reality, they change nothing.”
William, is a member of both The Law Society’s Family Law Panel and the specialist family lawyers’ organisation Resolution. However, he will not be giving up his quest to obtain real reform of the law.
“Nearly half the people reading this will come across the family courts at one stage in their lives,” adds William, “I will continue to support the idea of there being open access to the press so that important decisions of principle can be heard. However, what I can never support is the dignity of the family courts being compromised by effectively returning to the days of public gallery. We have moved on.”
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