What information can be shared in children proceedings?

Hollywood Actor, Ioan Gruffudd, most famous for playing Mr Fantastic in the Fantastic 4 films, has been in court with his ex-wife, Alice Evans, regarding the arrangements and financial support for their two children.

Evans has been criticised by Gruffudd for her behaviour in and out of court, including videoing/photographing Gruffudd in court and posting on social media.

The posts on social media include accusing Gruffudd of lying about their relationship and the abuse in it, stating that he is a ‘toxic baby daddy who just wants control’ and accusing Gruffudd's new fiancée of deliberately ruining his relationship with the children. 

Though Gruffudd and Evans’ case is in America, it raises questions about what is and isn’t acceptable in a family courtroom in England and Wales.

Confidentiality in court proceedings in England and Wales

All family court proceedings in England and Wales are private and confidential. This means that there is a duty for all parties within the case not to disclose or share any information or documents from the case with anyone outside of the proceedings. If you share information about your case with someone outside of proceedings, and one of the exemptions below doesn’t apply, then you can be found in contempt of court. This can be serious. If you are found in contempt of court, you could go to prison for up to 2 years, get a fine or both.

What is permitted by law?

There are certain exemptions permitted by law to the usual rule of confidentiality. For example, you are allowed to share information with your legal representatives like your lawyer and barrister, with other parties in the case and experts in the case. You can also share confidential information in order to seek advice to help you with your case or provide support in the case, such as with a close family member for support.

The court can also specifically allow the sharing of information via the court order, such as to a GP, therapist or school to help implement the order or support the family involved. The rules of court, the Family Procedure Rules, permit other disclosures beyond this as well.

The court can also make a transparency order which permits details about the case to be published. In the past few years, the Family Court have tried to be more transparent about the work that takes place in the courts and the decisions made.

This has led to certain journalists being allowed to sit in and report on proceedings. There are restrictions on the types of journalists that can attend and what they can report on.

If you want to share information about the proceedings, then you should seek legal advice on this before doing so. If you share information that isn’t covered by an exemption to confidentiality or isn’t otherwise permitted by the court, then there could be serious consequences.

Our lawyers are experts in children proceedings and are able to advise you on each stage of the process.