A judge’s outburst, unusually made public, reflects what many fear: that lack of transparency can permit abuses of power
Here speaks a senior judge about your right to know what goes on in our family courts. “If you want to know my view on the transparency project, it is not supportive … I have said my piece to anyone who will listen to me … and been ignored by people who are driving this forward. And I speak as a virtual lone voice. But I strongly hold this view … and I am very unconvinced about the motives of some of the journalists. Do not forget what they do. They sell copy. They have careers to pursue.”
Until last week, publishing these words, uttered by a family judge in a Manchester family court just before he banned a journalist from a hearing she was entitled to observe, would have been a contempt of court. Thanks to a more senior, high court judge, the whole shameful episode is now transcribed and published.