Ruling says Mr Justice Williams got ‘carried away’ when he banned naming of judges involved in schoolgirl’s care cases. Three judges who oversaw family court proceedings related to the care of Sara Sharif can be named next week, the court of appeal has ruled.
Mr Justice Williams said in December that the media could not name the judges who oversaw family court proceedings relating to the 10-year-old schoolgirl over concerns of a “real risk” of harm to them from a “virtual lynch mob”. He also said he did not believe the media could be trusted to report matters in a fair, accurate and responsible way.
Several media organisations that won the right to challenge the order, including the Guardian, told a hearing last week the ban posed a threat to open justice. In a ruling on Friday, three court of appeal judges said Williams had got “carried away” in his ruling and had made “inappropriate and unfair remarks about the press”. The judges said the three unnamed judges could be identified in seven days, allowing time for HM Courts and Tribunals Service to put protective measures in place.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, the master of the rolls and head of civil justice, said: “In the circumstances of this case, the judge had no jurisdiction to anonymise the historic judges either on 9 December 2024 or thereafter. He was wrong to do so.”. Vos, sitting with Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Warby, added: “It is the role of the judge to sit in public and, even if sitting in private, to be identified.
