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Legislative proposals included in the Children, Schools and Families Bill should encourage media attendance at family court cases, the Ministry of Justice said today.

This comes after a study found attendance has been limited since access was granted in April 2009.

The proposed legislation aims to build on a rule change last April which permitted accredited media to attend most family cases, by allowing journalists to report the substance of cases while protecting the anonymity of children and families involved.

The study shows that, from a survey of court staff:

• 25% said journalists had attended hearings at their court since the rule change
• 15% said journalists had attended hearings only once and did not come back
• 11% said that media attendance had led directly to an article being published
• other issues highlighted by respondents included the importance of clear guidelines for staff and media, accessible court lists and extra seats in courts.

Justice Minister, Bridget Prentice said:

‘Increased transparency for the family court system must balance safeguards to ensure the protection of individual parents and children in court proceedings, while still allowing the media to report cases in the public interest. This report will help Parliament and ministers to ensure that the Children, Schools and Families Bill achieves these aims.’

Measures to increase the public confidence in the family courts are being introduced in stages. The rule change in April 2009 allowed journalists to attend most family cases in county courts and the High Court, as well as family proceedings courts to which they already had access. However, the media were still only able to report the gist, rather than the substance, of proceedings they attended.

The next stage is to allow broader reporting of family proceedings, which requires primary legislation. Proposals are included in the Children, Schools and Families Bill currently before Parliament. The proposals include an indefinite prohibition on the publication of any information that is likely to identify children and families as involved in proceedings, as well as restrictions on publishing sensitive personal information. The final stage would be a review, subject to parliamentary agreement, with a view to removing some of these restrictions.

Alongside these stages, a pilot scheme is underway at courts in Cardiff, Leeds and Wolverhampton to test the publishing of judgments in family cases on the internet.

Notes to editors

1. A study of media attendance rules changes in family proceedings.
2. Children, Schools and Families Bill
3. Media representatives who attend family proceedings must be accredited. This is through the existing UK Press Card scheme, which has a wide membership, and is open to those working wholly or mainly in the media.
4. For more information please contact the Ministry of Justice Press Office on 020 3334 3536.