Cases

Re B (A Child) (Disclosure)

Held

s.12 prohibited publication of information or documents from child cases to individuals who were not professionally engaged in child protection, including MPs, Ministers of the Crown, the DPP and the police. The mother's solicitor was therefore in contempt. Neither s.12 nor any other provision prohibited the publication of the fact that a particular named individual had given evidence on behalf of a party in child proceedings. The mother should be allowed to disclose materials from the case to the GMC in connection with a complaint against doctors who had been involved in the case. The mother should also be permitted to provide a limited amount of information about the case in public. There should however be a contra mundum order prohibiting publication of material that could identify the child or the doctors involved. The injunction sought by the local authority against the BBC was without foundation in law, and amounted to an attempt at censorship.

Also