Transparency in the Family Courts: Publicity and Privacy in Practice

Zusatztext I approached reading the book Transparency in the Family Courts with a curious but slightly laid back manner perhaps unconsciously thinking it can't be that essential for a family practitioner. How wrong that was. The book is a compelling and fascinating read. I would say it is an absolutely essential read for a family practitioner as we navigate ever-increasing complex issues of transparency and openness in family practice in the era of social media. The book sets out in eight chapters everything a family practitioner should know about transparency in the Family Court. Each chapter is easily accessible and sets out complex issues in a clear and digestible way. The beginning of each chapter sets out the key issues covered and the key resources. Each then goes on to consider those issues in more detail. Chapter one of the book sets out how the book provides a useful resource for family practitioners! the basic principles underlying the law and what may be published from family proceedings! the legislative framework for that! how and why the law has developed over time and the important research and law and policy on family proceedings! particularly care proceedings. "Transparency! used as an umbrella term to describe openness! accessibility and public understanding of the family justice system! is not a new or ephemeral issue! although it has received particular attention in recent years." The introduction reminds us of some key features of open justice perhaps all too often overlooked by the Family Court. "Publicity is the very soul of justice" (Lord Shaw in Scott v Scott 1913 AC 417). The book introduces us to the competing complexities of balancing principles of open justice! their impact on parties' rights to privacy and their right to participate openly in Family Court decisions. Chapter 2 of the book deals with the Extent of Privacy in Family Proceedings and some issues such the attendance of the media being prima facie allowed (they just can't usually report) which might not be as well known as they should be. The famously misreported 'Muslim foster carer case' for example citing the problems with the reporter initially not being allowed into the court building by security. Chapter 3 deals with Orders Restricting or Permitting Reporting. Chapter 4 is a fascinating read on the Publishing and Reporting on Court Judgments. Of particular note is the consideration of issues of jigsaw identification and the decreasing number of reported family cases on BAILII. Chapter 5 looks at The Internet and Social Media neatly followed by Chapter 6 dealing with Enforcement. Chapter 7 looks at Other Courts and considers how they deal with the Article 6! 8 and 10 balance there. Chapter 8 is entitled Looking Ahead and is perhaps the most essential read of all. It concludes that: "we suggest that greater transparency of family justice is critical! not just to public confidence in the Family Justice System! but also because through robust but healthy challenge of the way we do things! it represents an opportunity to see things from a fresh perspective and to innovate for the benefit of the families and children we serve ." (page 243) I was left agreeing with this conclusion and comforted that as things change apace in the Family Court I was properly informed with this book. I highly recommend it. Informationen zum Autor Julie Doughty, Lucy Reed and Paul Magrath Klappentext Are you concerned about promoting transparency whilst protecting the privacy of vulnerable clients? With a foreword by Sir Andrew McFarlane, the incoming President of the Family Division, and an author team from The Transparency Project, Transparency in the Family Courts: Publicity and Privacy in Practice clarifies what transparency means in practice for professionals and families involved in the family courts, and provides guidance on privacy in family law cases and their reporting in the media.This new t...

About the author

Dr Julie Doughty, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Law, Cardiff University School of Law and Politics. She has previously worked as a solicitor and for local government and Cafcass. She currently teaches in family and child law, trusts, and media law. She has been researching privacy and openness in family courts for more than ten years. She recently led a research project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation which evaluated the effects of the transparency guidance issued to judges by the President in January 2014. The project report is currently under consideration by the President of the Family Division. This is available at:
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/family-court-transparency-plans-fall-short-judges-struggle-find-time-publish-judgments-safely

Julie has also undertaken research on adoption; expert witnesses, care proceedings, and the Court of Protection. Julie is also a Consulting Editor on Hershman and McFarlane.
Lucy Reed KC practices from St John's Chambers, Bristol and 36 Family (Call 2002). She is the author of The Family Court without a Lawyer - A Handbook for litigants in person (Bath Publishing, 2022) and the award-winning ‘Pink Tape’ blog, and the Chair of The Transparency Project. She is a Recorder on the Western Circuit. Lucy regularly delivers talks on family law, litigants in person and transparency issues. She has written several articles on family justice in both the legal and mainstream press. In practice, Lucy's specialism is child law, with an emphasis on public law proceedings.Paul Magrath is Head of Product Development and Online Content at the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales (ICLR). He is a non-practising barrister who has worked as a law reporter, editor and legal commentator for many years. He edited Creating Case History: The Law Reports 1865-2015 Anniversary Edition (ICLR 2015) and contributed to Galligan (Ed), The Courts and the People: Friend or Foe? (Hart 2021). He is currently responsible for developing and maintaining the ICLR online legal database platform, and is a trustee of the Transparency Project. He is also a member of the Courts and Tribunals Observers’ Network.

Product details

• Authors: Dr Julie Doughty, Dr Julie (Cardiff University Doughty, Dr Julie Reed Doughty, Julie Doughty, Julie Reed Doughty, Paul Magrath, Paul (Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales) Magrath, Lucy Reed, Lucy (St John's Chambers Reed
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2018
• EAN: 9781526503855
• ISBN: 978-1-5265-0385-5
• No. of pages: 376
• Series: Bloomsbury Family Law; Bloomsbury Family Law; Criminal Practice Series
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Law > International law, foreign law