Court of Appeal to hear challenge to order providing anonymity for judges who heard historic family proceedings concerning Sara Sharif
Two journalists have been given permission to appeal an order which prevents the media reporting the names of the judges who were involved in historic family proceedings that related to Sara Sharif.
Sara was later brutally murdered by her father and stepmother when she was 10. Urfan Sharif and Beinash Batool were sentenced this week.
The journalists, Louise Tickle and Hannah Summers, are seeking to appeal a single line in a reporting restrictions order issued by Mr Justice Williams.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, said the court had expedited dealing with their application “in the light of the exceptional public interest in the point raised and the legitimate media interest in the effect of the order that Mr Justice Williams (the judge) made”.
The Master of the Rolls said the journalists’ grounds of appeal argue that Mr Justice Williams’ decision in making the relevant part of the order was:
- Unjust because of a serious procedural irregularity in that the judge failed to give reasons (until the delivery to the parties on 19 December 2024 of a 66-page draft judgment, which it is expected will be handed down in due course);
- Wrong in that the demands of open justice meant that anonymity for a judge could not be justified within the framework of balancing article 8 and article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
- Wrong in that the judge was not capable of justifying the order, in the absence of any specific application made to him or any evidential foundation placed before him.
- Wrong in that the order was inimical to the proper administration of justice.
The Master of the Rolls said the other media parties supported the journalists’ application, Surrey County Council took no position, and counsel for the father and the stepmother broadly opposed the application. The Guardian sought more time.
Sir Geoffrey said he had decided to grant the journalists permission to appeal the relevant part of the judge’s order “on the grounds that the arguments advanced in their Appellants’ Notice and supporting skeleton argument have a real prospect of success”.
He added: “Moreover, the appeal raises questions that are of considerable public importance and it is in the public interest that the Court of Appeal considers them.”
The Master of the Rolls agreed that expedition was desirable, but he did not believe that the appeal could be justly and fairly disposed of before the court vacation for a number of reasons.
The expedited hearing of the appeal will therefore take place on 14 and 15 January 2025 before three judges of the Court of Appeal. The hearing will be livestreamed.
