The Court of Appeal has today granted permission to appeal in the case of Newman v Southampton CC (now M(a child)), which concerns the important question of the extent to which journalists can gain access to court records in private family law proceedings. The case is discussed in more detail in Michael White’s post, which you can find here.

When granting permission, the Court stated as follows: ‘The appeal raises an matter of significant public interest, namely the balance as between Article 8 and Article 10 where a responsible journalist seeks access to court papers; this includes consideration of the approach of the court to the Article 8 interests of a young child where a person with parental responsibility wishes to consent to full disclosure of all the court papers on behalf of the child, the subject of the proceedings.’

I act for Ms Newman (the journalist), together with Zac Sammour (of 11KBW) and Kate Temple-Mabe (of 7BR), instructed by Howard Kennedy’s Elizabeth Morley.

Anya Proops QC