News Release

The NS is calling upon the Government urgently to confirm that there will be no automatic bar to reporting hearings involving children when the new rules allowing journalists into family courts come into effect next week – saying that this would be a “disastrous outcome” to a process of consultation and negotiation which has taken over two years to conclude.

 

Following a meeting with Ministry of Justice officials last week, a letter to Jack Straw from the NS, Society of Editors, PA and ITN calls for the Justice Secretary to intervene personally to ensure that intended new regime of openness and accountability is not subverted.

 

The media representatives expressed the view that a draft MoJ media guidance document

“failed to reflect the Government’s stated aim of a change of culture in family courts to one of openness”. Crucially, the MoJ paper put forward the view that family proceedings involving the application of the Children Act 1989 or those concerning the maintenance and upbringing of a child remained subject to S.12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 as still being “held in private”, notwithstanding the admission of the media.  This would mean that such proceedings could not be reported at all – since the effect of S.12 is that to report any such proceedings is a contempt of court.

 

The letter to Straw states “if this interpretation is correct, its effect will be to completely undermine the Government’s stated aim of openness and accountability”. The media bodies contend that “we believe that, just as with youth courts, the media’s attendance as representatives of the public immediately negates any “private” status attaching to the proceedings”.

 

The media have raised strong concern that other MoJ guidance to court staff has already issued and appears to confuse restrictions on disclosure of court documents and confidential information with restrictions on reports of court proceedings and points to ambiguity in the language of the proposed Regulations which may be contributing to the questionable interpretation apparently being made, and to apparent shortcomings in the Regulations’ provisions for disclosure of information by parties to the proceedings. The letter states ”Both of these issues need to be urgently addressed and the process should immediately be set in train to ensure that regulations are changed or new additional regulations are brought forward immediately to effect such a change to those already laid, or, indeed, if necessary primary amending legislation should be brought forward”.

 

For further information please contact Sue Oake on 020 7632 7463 or email sue_oake@newspapersoc.org.uk.