Public or Private

Private or Public?

Undoubtedly the Family Court is regularly asked to deal with matters that are very sensitive and often involved children.  But to what extent should there be transparency in the Family Court or should all proceedings be private?

Court proceedings in the Family Court (as opposed to the criminal or civil courts) are private.  There is no public gallery in the Family Court as there is in the criminal court.  It is perhaps understandable why proceedings in the Family Court are not open to the public.  As stated above the issues dealt with are often sensitive and often involve children.  Would you really want your neighbour watching how a judge divides the matrimonial property between yourself and your spouse?

However, there is an argument that without transparency the public’s perception of how the Family Court deals with important issues can become skewed or misinformed.  On 3rd February 2014, the President of the Family Division, Sir James Mumby issued guidance to the Family Court about the publication of judgments at the end of a case.  The guidance is concise and detailed.  The spirit of the guidance indicates that Family Court judgments should be published unless there is a good reason not to.  Judgments will be anonymised so that people’s names and addresses are removed. 

In a recent case, Re C (publication of Judgment) [2015] a mother had appealed a judge’s decision not to publish his judgment at the conclusion of lengthy court proceedings with the father regarding arrangements for their 12 year old son. 

The Court of Appeal considered the President’s guidance on transparency and concluded that the publication was at the discretion of the judge.  The Court of Appeal said that the drive for greater transparency was an organic process which they would not interfere with.  The Court also noted that the move within the family justice system from it being unusual or exceptional to publish a judgment to a more open system is an ongoing process of transition.

Understandably, a person may be very reluctant to have details of their family court case made public even if their personal details were anonymised.  However, does a justice system that is completely private lose legitimacy?  As with all matters, dealt with by the Family Court this is a very sensitive subject that needs careful consideration.