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What’s in a name? The press and family law proceedings
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Edward Floyd
Senior Associate Penningtons Manches
The prospect of publicity and press coverage is often a major factor in divorce cases. It is a fast developing area as it engages two competing principles (and ECHR rights) – Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life) and Article 10 (freedom of expression read alongside section 12(4) of the Human Rights Act 1998). On the one hand there is demand for greater transparency in the family courts and the public interest in being informed about the workings and processes of those courts. Balanced against this is the fact that the financial remedy process involves the compulsory provision of information that by its nature is personal and confidential. Media reporting of such cases can have distressing consequences for the parties particularly where there are minor children who could be affected by a breach of the privacy interests of their parents.
The recent judgment in
X v X (Anonymisation) [2016] EWHC 3512 (Fam) (16 December 2016) considered the circumstances in which the court will 'anonymise' a judgment in a financial case. The court considered submissions from the husband...
Read the full article here.
