Writers wanted (family court) | £250 per article

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: RIGHT TO EQUALITY

Deadline: 21 March 2025

With the Transparency pilot opening up Family Courts, it is important to be informed on your rights to have reporters or legal bloggers attend and report on your case.

Read to understand how family court proceedings are opening up while safeguarding your privacy.

This post explains how family court proceedings are opening up, aiming to enhance public understanding while safeguarding your privacy.

WHAT IS INVOLVED?

• Lots of sensitive information will still be private. Your family’s privacy will be protected.

• Journalists and qualified legal bloggers can come into family court hearings, watch the hearing and then report what they see with the permission of the judge.

• Journalists and qualified legal bloggers can look at certain documents from the case.

• You can talk to a journalist or a qualified legal blogger about your case.

• To allow this to happen, a judge will make a ‘transparency order’, which will contain the rules for reporting that must be followed.

WHAT IS A TRANSPARENCY ORDER?

• If the court allows a reporter to report, you will be sent a ‘Transparency Order’.

• This contains the rules of what can and cannot be reported.

• The Transparency Order allows reporters to report the case but says that other people must not publish information about the case.

• #Right2Equality (Social media icons for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook)

ENSURE YOUR REPORTER IS IN POSSESSION OF A UK PRESS CARD

• A UK Press Card is an identification card produced by the UK Press Authority. It is a blue card, with a yellow header saying ‘press’, and a hologram.

• A legal blogger will belong to a barristers’ chambers or a law firm, or an organization like a University or charity, and will be able to verify who they are.

WHAT CAN REPORTERS SEE FROM MY CASE?

• Reporters will be allowed to see certain basic documents, such as the documents the lawyers produce to help them understand the case (called case outlines, skeleton arguments, or position statements).

• If a reporter wants to see what is in any other document, they must ask the judge for permission.

Whether you’re navigating the system or just curious about the changes, this guide covers everything from Transparency Orders to what can legally be reported. Stay informed and empowered with this guide on navigating this new landscape.

WHAT CAN AND CAN’T BE REPORTED?

• Generally, the transparency order will say that reporters can report the details of your case and case documents, and what has happened at your hearing.

• The transparency order will give more detail about which people, places, and organisations can be named and which ones must not be named.

• The judge dealing with your case may adjust the transparency order to make sure it’s right for your family.

WHAT REPORTERS CANNOT INCLUDE

Reporters cannot include:

• The names of any children or family members involved;

• The places that the children live or go to;

• The dates of birth of any children; photographs of you or the children.

TRANSPARENCY ORDER AND PUBLISHING RESTRICTIONS

• Sometimes an order will include other things that must not be included in reports, to make sure that your family can’t be identified by accident.

• The transparency order does not allow you to report or publish anything about the case.

• This is to make sure that you and the children cannot be identified.

• Even if there is press coverage of your case, you must not publish about it – including posting on social media – and you must not copy or “like” any media coverage.

• If you publish about the case, you could be breaking the law.

WHO DECIDES IF MY CASE SHOULD BE REPORTED?

The judge will make the final decision about whether your case is included in this pilot or not.

If you don’t want your case to be reported, you will be able to tell the judge that before they decide, but you cannot opt out without the judge agreeing.

When a judge is deciding, they will think about all the circumstances of the case and balance the things you are worried about with the aim of making the family court’s work more open.

The judge will then tell you whether they will:

• Allow your request, and stop all reporting;

• Change the transparency order, so that less information can be reported;

• Leave the transparency order in place.

Our “Breaking Bias, Building Justice” project supports initiatives to increase transparency and training.

We encourage reporting on family court hearings by journalists and legal bloggers write on Family Court, paying £250 per article.

Email us at info@righttoequality.org to participate!

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CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

Questions/applications: info@righttoequality.org

Website: https://righttoequality.org

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