Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan

Announcing the move in her speech to mark the opening of the Northern Ireland legal year yesterday, Dame Siobhan Keegan said she wanted to “increase the momentum” on family court reform following the Gillen review of civil and family justice.

She said more should be done to improve “the transparency of family courts”, noting the “ongoing work in England and Wales in recent years in opening up the family courts”.

The judge continued: “I recently visited a Family Proceedings Court in Laganside to observe for myself some of the issues arising within that environment that have been raised in correspondence received in my office from various quarters.

“I observed dedicated professionals working towards arrangements that were in the best interests of the children involved in the cases. I want to promote public understanding of the difficult and complex matters that those courts deal with.

“To that end I am establishing a judicial working group, which I will lead initially, to explore the current family court system and make recommendation for improvements and reform.”

The Department of Justice announced earlier this summer that it has commenced policy scoping work to consider increased access of journalists to family court hearings.

Dame Siobhan said she welcomed the move, adding: “I am committed to doing what I can to improve openness and transparency in the courts in this jurisdiction and this will be one of my key priorities in the coming year.”

Separately, the Lady Chief Justice said she was satisfied with the outcome of a court broadcasting pilot involving BBC NI, UTV, Sky News, ITN and PA Media, but that it was unlikely to progress in the next few years.

She said: “The broadcasters did an excellent job, and I was very impressed with the footage they compiled. I would also like to be able to broadcast sentencing decisions of the Crown Court.

“I have however been advised that it will not be possible to progress the necessary legislation until the next Assembly session, that is from mid-2027 onwards.

“This delay is disappointing as it means we cannot build on the momentum we have achieved.”