News
Reporting pilot extended to include private family disputes
The President of the Family Division’s Transparency Implementation Group Reporting Pilot (TIG) has today been extended to include private law in the 16 courts that were added to the pilot in January 2024.
The reporting pilot introduced, for the first time, 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. The ability to report is being piloted to make sure it can be done safely and with minimum disruption to the court and to those involved in the cases. This will be done by judges in these courts making a ‘Transparency Order’, which sets out the rules on what can and cannot be reported.
The pilot started at the family courts in Leeds, Cardiff and Carlisle in January 2023, and has since been extended to include private law in those three courts, and public law in 16 more courts. Since then there has been ground breaking coverage of both public and private law cases, including a mini-series on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the Press Association, the BBC News website, the Sunday Times, the Economist, the Guardian and the Observer, the Daily Mail and others. The aim of extending the Reporting Pilot to include private law, is to further explore the impact on the courts system, the judges, those involved in family proceedings, and on the media.
Both public and private law cases can now be reported on in the following courts:
London: Central Family Court, East London, West London
Midlands: Nottingham, Stoke, Derby, Birmingham
North East: West Yorkshire, Kingston-upon-Hull
North West: Liverpool, Manchester, Carlisle
South East: Luton, Guildford, Milton Keynes
South West: Dorset, Truro
Wales: Cardiff
President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane said:
“Extending the reporting pilot to include private law in almost half of all family courts is another significant step in the judiciary’s ongoing work to increase transparency and improve public confidence in, and understanding of, the family justice system.
“We hope that by extending the pilot further, we can continue to understand the impact that family court reporting has. I would like to thank all the judges and staff involved, as well as the journalists who have already engaged with the pilot and encourage them and their colleagues to keep reporting on the family courts and the vital public interest issues that they highlight.”
Background:
- If you are interested in reporting from the family court but don’t know where to start, please contact Katy Durrans in the judicial press office: katy.durrans@judiciary.uk
- 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.
- To ensure that the recommendations of the review were implemented, the President set up the Transparency Implementation Group in December 2021.
- Since then, a sub-group of the TIG, led by Mrs Justice Lieven, supported by TIG secretary Jack Harrison, and comprising stakeholders from across the family justice system and beyond, have designed and set up the reporting pilot.
- The media can already report on family cases if an application is made and a Transparency Order is granted. The pilot creates the presumption that a Transparency Order will be made.
- Full details of the pilot including detailed guidance for reporters can be found here.
Guidance for Designated Family Judges Engaging with the Media in Reporting Pilot courts