The President of the Family Division, Andrew McFarlane said journalists and bloggers should have greater access to family court hearings and court documents in a report on transparency in family proceedings published today.
McFarlane said parents and family members should also have more freedoms to contact journalists about important and concerning cases.
In a statement on the judiciary’s website, he said the current reporting process was not sustainable and that there needed to be “a major shift in culture and process to increase the transparency”. He said the report’s aim was to balance two key issues: developing public confidence in the Family Justice system while maintaining the anonymity of families and children inside the system.
McFarlane now hopes to pilot a new reporting system in family courts around the country.
Researching Reform welcomes this report and the team behind it who are enabling the development of a more humane and sophisticated family court system for children and their parents.
And hats off to McFarlane, for this brave and insightful report.
You can read the President’s statement here.
You can access the report here.
Many thanks to Dana for alerting us to the publication of the report.
Researching Reform 
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All talk..He ain’t gonna do shit. Munby said the same thing too but did zero. If Families comes out on top, that will make the wicked Judges look and feel powerless. They want to show they are “Above the Law and do not have to abide to any Human Rights Act”. They want us to know that they have a heavy Iron Fist too.
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Who decides what are “important and concerning cases”? Families should be able to speak freely regardless. Every public law case is important if a child is removed – it’s important to that child!
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Countless UK mothers have their babies taken away at birth for risk of future emotional harm.If those mothers dare to protest in public that future predictions are a risky base on which to justify separating mothers and babies they face jail sentences for breaching the privacy of their babies !
The question is “Who can judge whether or not such cases are important or concerning??”
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This Judge McFarlane, covered up fraud on my Case in 2003, failing to mention it in his Reserved Judgement.
The Case went on to Final Approved Judgement, this same said Judge failed to mention it in said Judgement also.
Isn’t this the same Judge who wanted babies removed with decisions being made before they were even born.
The same Judge who had us believe forced adoptions could be coming to an end.
My honest opinion is he is just as criminal as the criminals he allows to get away with committing criminal acts in his Courts.
This Judge or Sir belongs in prison with the rest of them responsible. He is a gatekeeper.
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All talk in deed, I’m sorry McFarlane but I have to say that you’re full of ******, you’re only saying what you’re saying because you have decided that you are soon going to retire.
“Journalists and bloggers should have greater access to family court hearings and court documents in a report on transparency in family proceedings published today”.
Please, who is this man trying to kid, a poor attempt at playing the good samaritan, Mumby said the same thing upon his retirement, McFarlane and Mumby for that matter, have the nerve to sit there and make such an obnoxious, undermining and insulting comments.
When they have alongside their colleagues also, participated in the destruction and the obliteration of hundreds and thousands of family’s for many many generations, these cold blooded criminals have the blood of the innocent on there hands, just like Tony Blair does, it’s absolutely disgusting and judgment by the most high awaits them for your evil and heinous sins and crimes against humanity.
Who ever is paraded before the public in a position of authority, which I think everybody must know by now, do not make the decisions on how this planet operates. It’s the satanic shadow governments, the Mr Greens and so fourth, who make the decisions, and are at this moment in time, as the bibles states, it’s the santanic shadow governments who are the rulers of this world.
Peace, love and guidance
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Both himself, Ryder J and, others sits in the court of appeal as judges and they never take the suffering family’s side. If a high court judge abuses his/her powers and makes wrong decisions, they help to cover it up so, what on earth they talk of being impartial when they promote draconianism.
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Spot on.
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Thank you for your comments. RR has its own concerns about the new report, which appears to try to control media access in a way which is not conducive with public interest reporting. The main concerns for us are McFarlane’s suggestion that greater transparency can be achieved through annual family court reports (no doubt produced by someone inside the system, if not the president himself), journalists not having access to anything other than position statements (ie no medical statements or police reports as examples) and that there appears to be no consideration of whether the families and children involved should have the legal right to waive anonymity in serious cases where lack of scrutiny might harm the child or the family. There’s more to come on this morning’s post, but these are our initial concerns.
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Just updating my comment – apologies, we will share our thoughts about the project a little later, and the consultation RR was going to post this morning was about financial remedies only, so we are omitting it for now.
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A warning to all mothers who have just given birth to their babies !
When social workers backed up by family court judges take away your babies after a court case where you were prevented from speaking by your own solicitor; do not dare to protest to the media or to the public or on the net . Why?? Because you will be jailed for breaching the privacy of your own babies ! !
The only voice of protest comes from Sir Andrew McFarlane because he has said many times that he would like care orders to be made on babies BEFORE they are born !
That would speed up the process immeasurably ,but is that really what you mothers want??
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Well,, the COP stole my unsound mind son and then fabricated that he has full capacity {No Contact for many years} but, once he is arrested and reassessed he is found to lack capacity in all areas. He is then subjected to a SECRET DOLS REGIME with No Family contact and what is wholly unacceptable is “they blame him for all of this injustice” by saying he has “FULL CAPACITY, it is his decisions and he does not want his family involved in his criminal case”. What can the family do? When the family challenged it in the COP, they are told to “GET LOST, YOUR APPLICATION HAS NO MERITS”.
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