Press releases

Consultation on openness of family courts welcomed by BAAF

Issued: 11 July 2006

BAAF today welcomes the consultation paper ‘Confidence and Confidentiality: Improving Transparency and Privacy in Family Courts’ and urges people to respond.

John Simmonds, Director of Policy Research & Development for BAAF, says:

“The outcome of this consultation will affect many vulnerable children and their families. Decisions made in the family courts impact on the rest of their lives.

“While it is absolutely right that the courts are accountable, this must be balanced against the importance of a family’s privacy and this is a very difficult balance to achieve.It is crucial that any change to the system safeguards the anonymity of children and their families in practice.

“BAAF will be reading this document with great interest and consulting its members to inform a full response. We would encourage all those affected also to respond.”

Ends

Notes to Editor

The consultation can be accessed on the website of the Department for Constitutional Affairs via this link.

For more information, please call BAAF press office on 020 7421 2632 or email daisy.oclee@baaf.org.uk. For out of hours enquiries, call the press office mobile on 07767 444 589.