Media show little interest in family cases but MoJ forges ahead with liberalisation

Few journalists have taken up the opportunity to gain access to family courts since it first became possible in April 2009, the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

A survey of court staff conducted by the MoJ found that:

• 75% said no journalists had attended hearings at their court since the rule change
• 15% said journalists had attended hearings only once and did not come back
• Just 2% reported media attendance between one and five times a week
• 11% said that media attendance had led directly to an article being published.

The type of proceedings where journalists were most likely to attend were care/supervision proceedings and private law children’s proceedings, with very little interest in divorce, ancillary relief or domestic violence cases.

The respondents highlighted the importance of clear guidelines for staff and media, accessible court lists and extra seats in courts.

The MoJ is planning further liberalisation of the regime, with the media allowed to report on family proceedings more broadly. This will require primary legislation through the Children, Schools and Families Bill currently before Parliament.

The proposals also include an indefinite prohibition on the publication of any information that is likely to identify children and families as involved in proceedings, as well as restrictions on publishing sensitive personal information.

The final stage in the process of liberalisation, subject to parliamentary agreement, would be consideration of whether to remove these restrictions.

Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said the proposals should encourage greater media attendance.

She added: “Increased transparency for the family court system must balance safeguards to ensure the protection of individual parents and children in court proceedings, while still allowing the media to report cases in the public interest.”

A pilot scheme at courts in Cardiff, Leeds and Wolverhampton is taking place to test whether family court judgements should be published on the internet.