Journalists must balance public scrutiny with unnecessary intrusion \u2013 warns The Law
Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Family Courts in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle will allow journalists to report and quote
family members involved in the proceedings for the first time. This pilot scheme aims at
increasing transparency around issues that arise in civil courts.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karen Dovaston, Chair of the Law Society Family Law Committee and founder of Andy Elvin, CEO of foster care charity TactCare supports the scheme. Elvin echos Media Wales\u2019 Breaking News Editor and Media Law lecturer, Cathy Owen agrees that Journalists must balance public scrutiny with unnecessary intrusion \u2013 warns The LawSociety. Family Courts in Cardiff, Leeds and Carlisle will allow journalists to report and quotefamily members involved in the proceedings for the first time. This pilot scheme aims atincreasing transparency around issues that arise in civil courts. Karen Dovaston, Chair of the Law Society Family Law Committee and founder ofDovaston Law told CJS news that this will give the public \u201ca better understating of legalproceedings.\u201d It\u2019s hoped that this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":946,"featured_media":31014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[21,1031,1033,1032,1030,34],"coauthors":[903],"class_list":["post-31012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cardiff","tag-family-law","tag-freedom-of-speech","tag-journalist","tag-law","tag-wales"],"yoast_head":"\n
Dovaston Law told CJS news that this will give the public \u201ca better understating of legal
proceedings.\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s hoped that this will help people settle legal disputes outside of court.
Dovaston highlighted to CJS news that journalists \u201coften misunderstand parameters of
what you are and aren\u2019t allowed to report in a case\u201d.<\/em> She fears this increased freedom
could “lead to an overindulgence in gossip and a salivation over others misfortune.\u201d<\/em> She
added Journalists seeking sensationalists headlines from family law cases would
undermine the intention for public good.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dovaston\u2019s sentimentand is cautious of the potential risks this increased freedom may
bring about. It is a commonly held view that public laws that safeguard children \u201crequire
more scrutiny\u201d.<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cthere has been a long-awaited need to transparency in the justice system\u201d.<\/em>
Owen reassured CJS News that she thinks there are still \u201cstrong enough laws in place to
make it safe for families and enable them to retain their anonymity\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"