UK family court secrecy may end.

Secret hearings in family courts is a public issue in Britain. Constitutional Affairs minister Harriet Harman, acknowledges claims that the 80-year-old regime of secrecy that protects the courts has led to a failure of public confidence and a collapse of trust in their workings. The courts rule on the lives of 400,000 children and families every year.

As part of examining the issue, children are being asked whether family courts should continue to be run behind closed doors. The government launched an interactive website asking children and young people what they think of suggestions to open the courts, which causes issues arising from family breakdowns, to wider scrutiny.

The government is considering a proposal to allow the press and broadcasters to attend hearings, which often involve sensitive matters regarding custody of children. Members of the public would still have to apply for the right to sit in court and listen to evidence. Judges will continue to have wide powers to hear cases in private and strict anonymity will remain.

The Department of Constitutional Affairs has hired a group of researchers to respond personally to questions and comments from young people on the site.

Nicholas Crichton, the only full-time family district judge in Britain, believes that children and youth will want the current, highly controversial level of secrecy. They will not want their personal and family situations discussed in public. Before consulting young people, Crichton argues, they need to have more information.