NEW rules to open family courts to the media are a missed opportunity to allow thorough and effective public scrutiny, family lawyers group Resolution warned last week.
Journalists are now allowed to attend divorce, custody and care proceedings, unless the court has excluded them.
But the new rules will not allow journalists to report what they hear in court.
Andrew Greensmith, Resolution’s spokesperson on family court transparency, said: “These changes simply tinker at the edges of the issue and have created a system which could well make matters worse when members of the public and press realise that details of cases cannot be made public.
“Greater openness and transparency have an important part to play in ensuring public confidence in the family court system, but simply allowing the media to sit in on cases is not enough.”
