Nov
16
Media allowed to report on cases before Family Courts
ByFor those of you interested in Family Law reform there is an interesting article and case judgement in the Times concerning the Webster Case. The judgement begins:-
Norfolk County Council v Webster:
Judgement in full
Neutral Citation Number: [2006] EWHC 2733 (Fam)
Case No: NR06C00371
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
FAMILY DIVISION
(In Public)
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Date: 1 November 2006
Handed down in public 2 November 2006
The Judgement begins:
Parents who claim that they were the victims of a miscarriage of justice in previous care proceedings relating to their three older children, and who are now embroiled in care proceedings relating to their fourth child, seek, with the assistance of the media, to tell their story in public. They wish the media to be allowed to attend forthcoming hearings of the care proceedings. The question is whether they are entitled to do so.The case raises important questions of principle about the right of access to and reporting of care proceedings in the Family Division and other family courts, which is why I am delivering this judgment in public. I have decided that the parents and the media are in substance, though with some amendments, entitled to the relief they seek….