“His Majesty’s Government is committed to the principle of open justice, commonly defined by the axiom ‘justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done’.”
So reads the opening to the Ministry Of Justice response to the recent Justice Select Committee report ‘Open justice: court reporting in the digital age’. [You can read my response to the initial report in “Justice Committee report – A blogger responds“.
The response announces that “in 2023 the Ministry of Justice will launch a wide-ranging call for evidence exploring the themes of open justice“. This is possibly the “first initiative of its kind” remarked Judith Townsend, a socio-legal researcher & senior lecturer, in a thread on twitter.
This blog will attempt to document the simple, but devastating, failings into Open Justice that the mouseinthecourt has experienced over the past few years.
A fight for a contempt of court judgment
Slightly from the archives – a report about the difficulties I faced when trying to obtain a High Court judgment in 2022. Prompted by a recent post from Celia Kitzinger entitled ‘Contempt of court proceedings: Are they transparent?’ – (Spoiler alert: they’re not) I recalled an exchange of e-mails I had with court staff coming…
Court of Protection listing mishap leaves observers in dark
The Civil and Family Listing Manager at the Leeds Combined Court Centre has offered a “sincere apology” after “failings by this office did indeed deprive you of the opportunity to observe the hearing”. The hearing in question was before Court of Protection judge Mr Justice Poole and was part of a long running covert medication…
A 140-day fight for a judgment
A reserved judgment, e-mailed in secret to the parties, was only disclosed to the mouseinthecourt some 140 days after being handed down. Part of a series looking at Secret Courts Frazer Fearnhead is an interesting chap. He was told he had the “most ridiculous valuation ever” when he pitched a company called House Crowd on BBC’s…
The RCJ’s secret Crown Courts
Nestled away in the labyrinth of corridors within London’s grand Royal Courts of Justice, hidden away behind frosted glass doors, are a couple of Crown Courts dishing out justice almost in private. You won’t see their cases listed on the daily RCJ cause list. Or in the display cabinets: Or on the notice boards outside…
Entry Denied at Barnet Civil Justice Centre
A trip to North London in October 2022 to observe the latest development in a series of mortgage fraud hearings almost had to be aborted after court staff denied entry. Some polite but persistent resistance was needed in order to gain access and report on the case. Part of a series looking at Secret Courts The…
The Secret Judgment hand down
The High Court blames “an over-sight of a court clerk” to explain why “there was no record of this case having been heard…This matter should have been listed and published on gov.uk but due to this over-sight this was not done. This has highlighted a serious training issue which will be addressed as a priority…
The Hidden Hearing
A preliminary hearing before a Birmingham District Judge, which concerned a £14.3m loan crowdfunded by 4,900 retail investors, failed to be listed. Part of a series looking at Secret Courts This was the list of DJ Rouine. It failed to show the 11.00 listing in the matter of Wordley v Lendy. Apparently “Open justice is a…
The Secret Hearing
On 22 March 2021 the High Court unlawfully sat in secret. Despite an assurance I would receive a transcript some 669 days later I’m still waiting. “In light of the failures of the Court to grant you access to the hearing I have begun the process of obtaining a transcript of the hearing, and a…
Mouse in the Court 