Celebrity parent overturns 'open' family court rules

New rules designed to open up the family courts to public scrutiny have been successfully challenged in the first test case by a-high profile celebrity.

Since the laws were introduced by Justice Minister Jack Straw in April, the media have been able to attend most High Court Family Division cases and in some circumstances report them as long as none of the parties was identified.

But Sir Mark Potter, President of the division, ruled yesterday that in a custody case involving the celebrity, a child and the child's mother, the media would be excluded.

He said he would give his reasons in a judgment tomorrow after telling the court that the application by the parents had succeeded and "the press should not be admitted" to the first hearing of the case this week.

Several media organisations applied to the court to argue at a hearing last month that their new right to attend family court proceedings should only be overturned in the most exceptional circumstances.

Richard Spearman QC, for the celebrity, had argued that as a general rule in cases involving celebrities and their children, the requirement to protect their privacy meant journalists should
be excluded from the hearings.

The case was the first in which the Family Division has had to consider the operation of the new system.