Press Release

• Parliament must act to assure adequate court openness
• All proceedings should be made available to the public
• A libel regulator should be created to protect individuals’ right to privacy 

Families Need Fathers notes with some gratification the call today by a senior Court of Appeal judge, Lord Justice Wall, for a degree of disclosure in family court proceedings. He clearly agrees with FNF that the family courts need more openness than he can deliver as a Court of Appeal judge.

 However, despite Lord Justice Wall’s good intentions, Families Need Fathers does not think his half-measures will change the public’s correct perception that the family courts are excessively closed and secretive. Under his proposals, many aspects of proceedings would unnecessarily remain secret, which would serve not to protect children’s identities or interest but to avoid scrutiny of the courts.     

 FNF urges the Constitutional Affairs Committee, which recently rejected measures similar to those proposed by Lord Justice Wall, to revisit the issue, with an eye toward opening all proceedings to individuals and creating a libel regulator to protect individuals’ rights to privacy. This level of openness is needed to assure an unbiased, credible and effective family court system. 

Families Need Fathers chair John Baker said, “All proceedings should be open.  Parliament needs to cut the Gordian knot and make this possible. To protect individuals, FNF supports the proposals of Lord Justice Wall's colleague, Sir Stephen Sedley, for a libel regulator.”