ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Carruthers, Oliver Heeks and Sian Brooks, Hughes Fowler Carruthers
3.5 Media Access and Transparency On 30 January 2023, a 12-month pilot (called the “Reporting Pilot”) was launched in respect of children cases in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle, and this pilot was extended in 2024. Accredited journalists and bloggers can report from court. This is known as the “transparency principle”. Any reporting will be subject to protecting the anonymity of children, which is known as the “anonymity principle”. The judge has discretion as to any transparency order made in Children Act proceedings. Under the standard template transparency order, which remains in place until any relevant child turns 18, there are restrictions on identifying details, including the anonymisation of the parties and the relevant children and other identifying infor - mation. Local authorities, NHS trusts and legal representatives can be identified.
In broad terms, then, the media are able to report on children cases – although the anonymisa - tion of children is a major concern of the Family Court. The Family Court are concerned with “jig - saw identification” and, as such, other identify - ing materials about a child may be anonymised. Anonymisation matters fall within the exercise of a judge’s discretion and are not decided upon by the parents. As explained earlier, all children are anonymous in Children Act proceedings, unless the Family Court orders otherwise. As mentioned in 2.8 Media Access and Trans- parency , from 27 January 2025, journalists and legal bloggers are able to report on what they see and hear in all family courts in England and Wales if a transparency order is granted. The open reporting provisions mean that there is a presumption that a transparency order is grant - ed, unless there is a legitimate reason not to. This recent change follows the success of Family Court Reporting Pilot, which started in January 2023 and was progressively rolled out thereafter.
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