Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to take steps to implement the recommendation contained in paragraph 48, subsection iv of 2014 EWCA Civ 1477.

We have been clear that there needs to be more openness in the Family Courts and are grateful to the President of the Family Division for his ongoing work on this issue. On contempt, the Guidance issued in 2013 by the Lord Chief Justice and President of the Family Division made clear that contempt decisions must be announced in public. Where a hearing for committal is exceptionally held in private, the judge must set out the reasons for doing so in public. Judgments are posted on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute’s website. Information on the courts who commit people to prison for contempt is already collected and recorded where supplied, and this guidance will result in greater consistency in the information which can be collected. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information on cases of imprisonment for contempt of court where there has been no published judgment on BAILII. BAILII is not a Government publication.