A consultation response: Family Justice-Media in Family Courts Pilot

NICCY understands the media pilot in the family courts has been approved and will initially be limited to the High Court Family Division. NICCY notes that the pilot aims to establish criteria for accreditation of media wishing to access family courts, test the workability of the process based on the Transparency Model operating in England and Wales and develop guidelines for reporting, before any changes are made to legislative or operational procedures. NICCY recognises that the purpose of this consultation is to seek the views on the proposed arrangements that have been developed for this media pilot.

NICCY also recognises the benefits of greater openness and transparency and the principle of open justice however it is NICCY’s view that this should not be given precedence over the rights and best interests of children and young people in Northern Ireland.

The full response can be downloaded at the right-hand side of this page.