Home / Family court reporting restrictions: what can the media report?
14th July 2026
Janine Hutson, Senior Associate
Family court reporting restrictions are designed to balance transparency with the privacy of children and families involved in proceedings. This article explains who can attend a family court hearing, what journalists can report, when reporters can be excluded and what legal limits apply when speaking to the media.
From reading the newspapers it may seem that family court proceedings are an open book. Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, Madonna and Guy Ritchie, Ant McPartlin and Lisa Armstrong are just a few who have had to contend with their family court proceedings being reported on in detail.
But these cases can give a distorted view on how open the family court is, particularly when it comes to media reporting.
The public are not permitted to attend private family proceedings, save for a few exceptions:
“Duly accredited” means that they hold a UK Press Card, issued by the UK Press Card Authority to professional journalists. Court staff will check these credentials before a journalist is permitted to attend a hearing.
Reporters do not have to give notice to the court or the parties of their intention to attend a hearing, but they are encouraged to do so.
Reporters cannot attend all hearings, and specifically they cannot attend negotiation hearings such as Financial Dispute Resolution hearings, parental order proceedings (for parenthood of a surrogate child) and adoption proceedings.
The court can exclude reporters from the proceedings at any time; however, it must be satisfied that the exclusion is:
The court must also consider the rights of the parties to have their private lives respected.
One of the most notable examples of hearings in the Family Court being reported was the divorce of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills in 2008. In this case it was decided that the judgment should not be anonymised, and the judgment was reported on in very significant detail, despite Heather Mills arguing against its publication. Heather Mills argued she was concerned about the couple’s daughter’s safety if the judgment was made public. However, the Court decided that the standard reporting restrictions, which prevent any reporting which identifies children or where they live or go to school, would be sufficient.
The Court has a wide discretion to decide whether proceedings should be reported on and, if so, whether there should be any specific restrictions on what can and cannot be reported.
Journalists can apply to vary or remove these restrictions, and this can be done when they attend the hearing.
However, publishing any information which could identify a child involved in proceedings (such as those to determine arrangements for children following a separation) is prohibited.
There are also restrictions on which documents journalists can see. Journalists may be permitted to see some basic documents relating to the case, such position statements or case summaries. But if the journalist wishes to see other documents, they must ask the Court for permission.
It is important to remember that, even if a journalist is permitted to attend a family court hearing, there will still be legal restrictions about what the parties involved can tell other people, including journalists, about the proceedings. If you provide details about your case to a journalist, or post on social media, or speak to others who are not involved in the proceedings, you may be found to be in contempt of court. It is important to seek legal advice about who you can discuss your case with and the level of detail you can provide.
For legal assistance and advice on family matters, please contact the family law department on 0161 832 3434 or email [email protected].