Female reporter at press conference, writing notes, holding microphone

Historically, cases in the Family Court in England and Wales took place behind closed doors. Only the parties, their legal representatives and the Judge would know exactly what took place in the courtroom. In more recent years, in an attempt to lift the veil on family proceedings, accredited reporters and legal bloggers could attend hearings, but could do little else. Now, transparency rules in the Family Court have progressed once more.

Under new changes, if a Transparency Order is made, journalists and legal bloggers can report on what they see and hear when attending court in family matters and can have access to certain court documents. The presumption is that a Transparency Order will be granted unless there is a legitimate reason not to.

These changes are being introduced to the courts on a stepped basis. Whilst the change is already in place for public law proceedings (having come into force on 27 January 2025), it is not until 1 May 2025 that it will apply to private law proceedings. These include:

  • Financial Remedy proceedings: cases resolving financial arrangements between parties that are divorcing or dissolving their civil partnership;
  • Proceedings under Schedule 1 of the Children Act: those involving financial provision for a child that arise separately to divorce or dissolution; and
  • Part III proceedings: cases for financial provision in England and Wales made following a divorce or dissolution in another country.

This move is intended to improve public confidence in, and understanding of, the Family Court in England and Wales. The President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Richard Atkinson, said: “Transparency and open justice are important to help the public understand how the law works and how decisions are made.” 

In a similar vein, Judges are being encouraged to publish more of their judgments on an anonymous basis. Publishing a case means that there will be a public record of the anonymised details and outcome. At present, cases involving significant assets and therefore dealt with by higher level judges are often reported. This encouragement aims to make judgments available for cases with varying asset levels.

All this aside, it is important to know that these proceedings still remain private. Whilst accredited reporters can attend court, hearings are not open to everyone. Even friends and family of the parties involved are barred from the courtroom except in specific circumstances.

Can my personal details be reported?

There are strict expectations in place to ensure that families, and particularly children of those families, are not identified through the reporting. These are set out in the newly created Practice Direction 12R of the Family Procedure Rules, the rules which govern family proceedings in England and Wales.

Unless there is express permission from the Court, journalists and bloggers cannot report, among other things:

  • the names of the parties,
  • the names or dates of birth of any children nor anything that would identify where the children are schooled;
  • the identity of the parties’ employers or their place of work;
  • the address of any houses or land owned by the parties
  • anything to identify accounts or investments held by the parties;
  • the identity of any private company or partnership in which any party has an interest; and
  • the name and address of any witness or of any other person referred to in the hearing except an expert witness.

As such, whilst the changes are intended to create transparency in the Family Court, the presumption is that your anonymity and confidentiality will remain. In the two-year pilot which has been running in specific courts, there were no known breaches of anonymity.

Even with this, some cases may be deemed unsuitable for public reporting. The Judge retains the discretion and, particularly if there are sensitive issues under discussion, the Judge is able to prioritise privacy over transparency.

How does it work?

  • The day before a hearing, the Court will publish a list of the cases to be heard the next day. Historically, the names of parties in family proceedings would be anonymised, for example the case of Jones v Jones might be seen as J v J. Since 2024, the full surname has been published. Hearing lists are widely accessible.
  • Additionally, parties and their representatives are now permitted to “tip-off” journalists about a hearing. There are some concerns that this could be used to place pressure on the other party, which will need to be kept under review.
  • A reporter should provide the parties and the Court with as much notice as possible that they intend to attend the hearing. Realistically, this may not be until the day of the hearing when the hearing list is published.
  • A reporter can attend a hearing, even if it takes place remotely (e.g. via Teams). The Judge will then hear from the reporter and the parties whilst considering whether to make a Transparency Order and in what terms. Parties and their representatives are expected to discuss the issue of reporting in advance of the hearing as the Judge may not allow for a delay of the proceedings for this to be considered.
  • The reporter will be allowed to see the case summaries prepared by/for each party and Form ES1, which is a joint case summary with basic details about the parties and the case. In a case which may be reported, representatives should include as little detail as possible in their case summary (whilst still providing the information to assist the Judge). This might include referring to a property as “the Cornwall property” or “the French property”, rather than providing detailed addresses.
  • The reporter can ask the Judge for permission to see further documentation. They can share any documents they have sight of with their editorial team/legal advisers if they provide those people with the Transparency Order.
  • If a Transparency Order is made, it is made for that specific reporter. Each reporter to a case will need to obtain a separate Order.
  • Reporters will not be permitted to attend Financial Dispute Resolution hearings (FDRs), as the purpose of these hearings are to encourage privileged negotiations with a view to a settlement being reached. Similarly, all out-of-court settlements will remain confidential.

How can I avoid my case being reported?

Realistically, we do not know whether journalists and bloggers will attend and report on hearings. The pilot saw little uptake with this, outside of high-profile cases.

That said, the way to avoid any risk of a case being reported is to try and resolve matters outside of court. There is an increasing move towards the use of Non-Court Dispute Resolution alternatives (NCDR), such as mediation, private FDRs and arbitration. These come with benefits beyond just the avoidance of reporting.

Please do contact our Family Law team on 0345 450 5558 or enquiries@stephens-scown.co.uk if you need any advice in respect of financial issues or any questions about the transparency rules and NCDR.