Transparency in the Family Courts

The case of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, murdered by her father and stepmother in 2023, sent shockwaves around the UK, raising questions over why the authorities had failed to protect her. It also led freelance journalists Hannah Summers and Louise Sickle on a dogged campaign to ensure accountability. 

In September 2023, they self-funded the first media application around disclosure of documents from family court proceedings concerning Sara’s welfare, with the aim of understanding how she came to be placed in the care of her father and stepmother. 

By spring 2024, they had persuaded a family judge to release a limited set of documents, though publication remained prohibited. In December 2024 they were the only media organisation to successfully apply for disclosure of, and permission to publish, an additional tranche of sensitive documents.

When a judge imposed an unprecedented anonymity order banning the media from naming three family court judges involved in the case, Summers and Tickle mounted an urgent challenge. They succeeded and the anonymity order was overturned, with the judge ruling it unlawful due to serious procedural irregularity and unfairness to the media.

The disclosure led to widespread national coverage, significantly improving public understanding of the state’s role in the decisions that preceded Sara’s death. 

Judges’ comments: “Powerful and challenging stuff to take on the courts… terrific and dogged journalism.”