Over the past two years News has shown how Transparency Orders can work, to reveal important stories of significant public interest, while maintaining the privacy of families.
Early in 2023, the used the orders to report cases in Leeds Family Court.
The drive towards transparency made it easier for the to obtain information in May 2023 about a past family hearing about Finley Boden, the baby returned by Family Magistrates to the parents who murdered him.
Using Transparency, the was able to report in November 2023 how a young mother in Cardiff had to spend £30,000 in the Family Court to protect her young daughter from a convicted paedophile – her ex-husband.
The MP Harriet Harman said the ‘s reporting had revealed a gap in the law that politicians had missed. She set out to change the law and an amendment was in the current King’s Speech.
Transparency also allowed us reveal that Baby Elsa, abandoned in a London park on the coldest night of the year, was the third child of the same parents.
Using Transparency Emma Glasbey of the ‘s Look North told the story of an abuse survivor who had her children taken away.
It was also used to report on the Harehills Family case that led to riots in Leeds this July.
Callum Parke of PA Media has reported many family cases using transparency orders.
Hannah Summers of the Bureau of investigative Journalism has used Transparency to report complex private law cases – including one where she successfully argued , externalfor a husband accused of rape to be identified.
Tortoise Media’s Louise Tickle has campaigned for greater transparency for many years. Her reporting using transparency showed some judges resist the drive , externaltowards greater openness.
Lucy Reed KC is the founder of the Transparency project, a charity set up to improve public understanding of the Family Courts.
She said this expansion was “a great step forward” but “there is still a great deal more cultural and practical change required before the Family Court can say it is operating as transparently as possible”.
