The shaggy dog that turned out to be a woolly sheep

by Lucy R | Sep 16, 2017 | Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

As long ago as April a number of lawyers began asking questions to clarify public criticisms made by John Hemming about a case dealt with in the family court. This week John Hemming has published a blog post which appears to be an(other) attempt to answer some of our...

Hart Felt: (Non)Matrimonial Money in Hart v Hart

by Polly Morgan | Sep 12, 2017 | Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

There have been a few articles in the newspapers about the latest judgment in Hart v Hart, a long-running case about the financial outcome of Mr and Mrs Hart’s divorce proceedings. Elsewhere on the Transparency Project, Mena Ruparel has criticised the inaccuracy of...

Misreporting the misreporting – that foster care case again

by reporting watch team | Sep 5, 2017 | Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Notorious

We’ve written about the so-called “muslim foster care case” already (here and here). We’ve been somewhat critical of the coverage by The Times. But we are a little concerned that some of the criticism we have seen of media reports, particularly...

The most secretive court in all of Christendom…

by reporting watch team | Aug 31, 2017 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

Recent coverage of the placement of a 5 year old Christian girl with a muslim foster family that spoke no English has generated much outrage and media attention this week. But as more information emerges it is becoming clear that things are more complex and less clear...

Mother jailed for contempt could be named despite her young child being involved in anonymised family court proceedings. Why?

by Paul M | Aug 28, 2017 | Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

To those accustomed to the idea that the family courts sit “behind closed doors” it may seem surprising for a judge to tell journalists they could name a woman who was being jailed for contempt of court, even though her three-year-old daughter was caught up in a...

Family Court judge accused of misfeasance in public office by social worker he criticised

by reporting watch team | Aug 18, 2017 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Notorious

This is a sad and unsatisfactory story. In November last year, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal brought by an unnamed social worker and an unnamed police officer against findings of an unnamed judge against them. The unusual feature of the case was that neither...