In recent decades there have been intermittent calls to allow reporters into the family court. Unlike other courts, the family court has been a private space for money as well as children’s cases; the public (via the media) has only had access once there is an appeal.
The pressure to ease reporting restrictions on these most private and sensitive of matters has been growing. There is no doubt that there has been an occasional “scandal” reported such as an expert witness whose testimony is swimming against the tide of public opinion, or victims of domestic abuse being cross examined by their perpetrators. However, in order to solve this perceived lack of confidence on the part of the public, an enormous sledgehammer has been aimed at this particular nut and every family lawyer I know has expressed serious concerns at this attack on the privacy of families.