On 13 January, the Courts and Civil Law Act 2013 was signed into law. The law marks a fundamental change to the in-camera rule of family and child care court cases, and allows the media to report on proceedings in such cases under strict conditions. The primary condition for allowing such reporting is the preservation of the anonymity of those parties to the proceedings. Cases may be reported in the media if they are not “likely to lead members of the public to identify a party to the proceedings or a child to whom the proceedings relate.” If a bona fide member of the media reporting on a case breaches this condition they may be fined up to €50,000, or could face up to three years in prison.
Click here to read an article in the Journal about the signing into law of the Courts and Civil Law Act 2013.
Click here to read an article in the Irish Times about the law change.
So far there has been a mixed reaction to the new rule changes. Katherine Irwin, partner and head of Private Client and Family Law at Beauchamps Solicitors believes the new rules will lift the veil on the unknown practices of the family law courts. Irwin believes the new rules are a marked improvement and will dispel fears of “collusion between judges and solicitors in the making of orders”. While the new rule will ultimately provide a further insight into the workings of the family law courts, Irwin believes it will bring to the public attention “many social issues . . . many of which may have been hidden behind the veil of the in camera rule for generations.”
Click here to read an article by Katherine Irwin in the Journal.
There has already been reporting by the media of some family law proceedings by the media. For example, the Irish Times has reported on a recent care order made by District Family Court Judge Colin Daly in relation to the child of drug addict parents.
PILA Bulletin readers may recall that the issue of transparency in family law and child protection law matters has also been raised in the UK recently following viral reporting of the “forced caesarean” case.
Dr Carol Coulter’s Child Care Law Reporting Project publishes short reports of actual cases on a dedicated website – click here find out more.