There are strict rules for privacy for children involved in certain proceedings and releasing information to the media is a risk that should not be taken without expert legal advice as usually no information can be disclosed before the conclusion of the proceedings.  There may be consequences resulting in a prison sentence, in a worst case scenario.

The prohibition is on publication of any information likely to identify a child in a case and lasts until the conclusion of the proceedings in question thereafter the parties have a right to freedom of expression under art 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights which may outweigh the rights of a child to respect for private and family life as set out in art 8 of the same Convention.

Every court when making what a final order in proceedings under the Children Act 1989 considers whether or not there is an outstanding welfare issue which needs to be addressed by a continuing order for anonymity. If there is no outstanding welfare issue, then it is likely that the penal consequences will cease to have any effect, and the parties can put into the public domain any matter relating to themselves and their children that they wish to publish.  The court, after the proceedings, retains its welfare jurisdiction and will be able to intervene with orders to prevent publication where a child’s welfare is put at risk by inappropriate parental identification for publicity purposes.

This has also been dealt with in care proceedings as well as other family cases involving children where a similar conclusion was reached and it was said that as a result even within care and adoption proceedings as a matter of routine judgments should be given in an anonymised form and in open court. 

It is possible in public and private law children’s’ proceedings for some publication at the conclusion of proceedings as long as there is no order made by the court to the contrary or a conflict with s12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960, ie to whilst it may be alright to publish a form of the judgement, it may still be a contempt of court to publish documents and reports filed within those proceedings.

Anyone thinking of publishing anything from any proceedings involving children should really consider the advice of a solicitor before doing so.