Family courts access plan brings bullying fear

Proposals to further open up family courts are currently being debated as the Children, Schools and Families Bill goes through the committee stages in Parliament.

But interim research findings published by Sir Al Aynsley-Green, reveal that most children and young people involved in family court cases would be unwilling to talk about ill treatment by a parent, express their wishes or discuss any problems they were having at school with a journalist present in court.

The research, which is being conducted by the University of Oxford, also shows children are worried about humiliation resulting from information about their families being placed in the public arena that could lead to bullying.

The research has been passed to MPs this week.

Sue Berelowitz, the deputy children's commissioner said: "We support the principle of openness but our overriding consideration is to protect the welfare of children.

"Transparency can be achieved in other ways such as publishing summaries of anonymised judgments.

"If these children and young people's concerns fail to be addressed in the bill, we could be faced with a situation where they are unwilling to speak out during family court proceedings and this could result in their best interests not being met."

The evidence gathered so far also shows the importance young people place on being told from the start of the legal process that a journalist may be in court when they are giving evidence, before they discuss any issues.

They also urged that judges or magistrates should seek children's views before deciding whether to admit the media to a hearing about their safety and care.

The children's commissioner's final report into media access to family courts will be published in the spring.