CYP Now - Analysis: Family courts - New approach on media access

Following strong opposition from children, the Government has performed a U-turn on its plan to increase media access to family courts as part of its rethink on justice. Tristan Donovan finds out about the Government's new approach on the issue.

"Every young person is entitled to privacy," says 15-year-old Jasmin."If they don't want people to hear their story, people shouldn't beallowed to hear their story."

Jasmin's comment is one of several featured in a DVD produced by theChildren and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) for theGovernment's recent consultation on plans to give the media greateraccess to family courts.

Another contributor to the DVD, 18-year-old Khadijah, agrees withJasmin. "If I was a 14-year-old, I think I would be intimidated by thepress. I don't know them; they're strangers," she says.

Ministers have listened to worries voiced by the likes of Jasmin andKhadijah. Children's voices were key in the Government's rethink onmedia access, as former justice secretary Lord Charles Falconerexplained in his introduction to the just-published Openness in familycourts consultation.

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