New family court reporting week launches to boost transparency

A 'family court reporting week' will be launched in November in a bid to encourage more reporting of cases in the Family Division.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism will run a series of events from Monday 4 November offering mentoring and practical ‘at court’ support for journalists around the country.

It follows the expansion of the family court’s reporting pilot which started at the family courts in Leeds, Cardiff and Carlisle at the end of January 2023 and extendedt to other courts including Liverpool, Dorset and Milton Keynes in January this year. The pilot introduces the presumption that accredited media and legal bloggers may report on what they see and hear during family court cases while adhering to strict rules of anonymity. It was further expanded in July to cover private law cases.

Journalist Louise Tickle, coordinator of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s family court reporting week, said: ‘Ten years of attending family hearings has shown me it is vital for journalists to report on the decision-making of social workers, children’s guardians, court appointed experts and judges. When draconian powers are exercised out of public view, an independent media presence can be the only check and balance available to families whose lives are indelibly altered by their experience of these courts.’

The courts taking part in the pilot scheme are: Liverpool, Manchester, Carlisle, West Yorkshire, Kingston-upon-Hull, Nottingham, Stoke, Derby, Birmingham, Central family court, East London, West London, Dorset, Truro, Luton, Guildford, Milton Keynes and Cardiff.