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Press Release
FNF still searching for openness that Court of Appeal can’t give.
Families Need Fathers welcomes guardedly the judgement announced today by the Court of Appeal to allow for greater openness in the family courts, though there is still a long way to go before the shroud of court secrecy can be said to have been lifted.
In its decision in the case Clayton v Clayton, the Court overturned precedent to allow that someone who has been in proceedings to obtain parenting time can reveal that fact once proceedings have ended without facing charges of contempt of court.
The Court of Appeal called this decision 'a small step towards greater transparency'.
Families Need Fathers Chair, John Baker, said, “We agree with the Court – it is a small step and there is still a long way to go.” Mr Baker said Families Need Fathers still awaits a real opening of the doors of current Family proceedings that would give the quality control still obviously lacking in this area. "We want all special reporting restrictions on proceedings, as opposed to individuals, removed. And that needs a change of rules from the Lord Chancellor’s department, who is responsible for the lack of quality control.” he said.
“We sympathise with all individuals who are targeted in Family proceedings. But they don’t feel protected by a free-for-all in an unscrutinised court. We would like to see another Appeal Court Judge’s ideas taken seriously. Sir Stephen Sedley recently proposed a libel regulator to protect victims. This would finally get effective protection to the people who matter – the victims.
Meanwhile, the
Families Need Fathers does not see how changing one's mind, so slightly, and so belatedly, after losing the argument so comprehensively, constitutes a rebuttal.
The Court of Appeal concluded that describing the court system as 'secret justice' “is unfair to the conscientious judges and magistrates who are obliged every day to make orders under the Children Act 1989”. Families Need Fathers believes the issue at hand is not the honour or pride of the judges concerned but the interests of the children. However honest a judge is, calling a staunchly closed system secret is neither a slur nor unfair. It has for too long been the fact of the matter.
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Families Need Fathers(FNF) is a registered charity providing information and support on shared parenting issues arising from family breakdown, and support to divorced and separated parents, irrespective of gender or marital status. Our primary concern is the maintenance of the child’s relationship with both parents. Founded in 1975, FNF helps thousands of parents every year.
Please see Families Need Fathers ‘programme for change’ Father’s Day Manifesto