FAMILY DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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City and County of Swansea |
Applicant |
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XZ |
First Respondent |
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YZ |
Second Respondent |
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The Children (by their Guardian, Joanne Bamford) |
Next Respondents |
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The Press, Media and Others |
Final Respondents |
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Mr Jonathan Furness QC and Ms Sharon James for the First Respondent
Ms Lucy Leader for the Second Respondent
Ms Alison Ball QC for the Children's Guardian
Ms Caoilfhionn Gallagher for Times Newspapers Ltd, Guardian News and Media Ltd, the British Broadcasting Corporation and the South Wales Evening Post
Hearing date: 21st January 2014
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Crown Copyright ©
MR JUSTICE MOOR:-
The history
The reasons for the application
"I accept that the evidence to which I have referred is speculative. However, in a situation where, so far, no substantial publicity has occurred, the evidence is necessarily speculative in nature. In this case, it consists of the assessment of a local authority officer and guardian, both with wide welfare experience and local knowledge as to local attitudes."
The Law
(i) the material has, or is about to, become available to the public; or
(ii) it is or would be in the public interest for the material to be published.
"These statements by the European Court of Human Rights reveal that under the ECHR there is a general and strong rule in favour of unrestrained publicity of any proceedings in a criminal trial".
(a) Neither Article 8 nor Article 10 has as such precedence over the other;
(b) Secondly, where the values under the two Articles are in conflict, an intense focus on the comparative importance of the specific rights being claimed in the individual case is necessary;
(c) Thirdly, the justifications for interfering with or restricting each right must be taken into account;
(d) Finally, the proportionality test must be applied to each. For convenience, he calls this the ultimate balancing test.
"..the ordinary rule is that the press, as the watchdog of the public may report everything that takes place in a criminal trial. I would add that in domestic practice this is a strong rule. It can only be displaced by unusual or exceptional circumstances. It is not however a mechanical rule. The duty of the court is to examine with care each application for a departure from the rule by reason of rights under article 8."
"The interference with article 8 rights, however distressing for the child, is not of the same order when compared with cases of juveniles who are directly involved with criminal trials".
"…neither article has precedence over or "trumps" the other…An intense focus on the comparative importance of the specific rights being claimed in the individual case is necessary before the ultimate balancing test in terms of proportionality is carried out. Having so stated, Lord Steyn strongly emphasised the interest in open justice as a factor to be accorded great weight…However, nowhere did he indicate that the weight to be accorded to the right freely to report criminal proceedings would invariably be determinative of the outcome. Indeed, although he acknowledged that it was the "ordinary" rule that the press, as public watchdog, may report everything that takes place in a criminal court, that rule might nonetheless be displaced in unusual or exceptional circumstances".
The law as it relates to this particular case
The individual issues
Other matters that are permitted for publication
(a) The Defendant in the criminal proceedings is a Mother from the Swansea area, rather than just a woman from the Swansea area. This is, of course, obvious from the fact that she has pleaded guilty to infanticide and from the matters that I have permitted to be disclosed as to the composition of the family but I say it for the avoidance of doubt given that it was previously restrained.
(b) The Local Authority is the City and County of Swansea.
(c) The police authority is South Wales Police. This can include reference to the police's failure to take action in 2006 and 2007 and the time taken to decide to prosecute since then.
(d) Children A and B are the Mother's children and they are siblings.
(e) The fact that Reporting Restriction Orders have been made, to include the history of these Orders.