Contra mundum order – report of arrest – vulnerable persons – Article 8 – Article 10
The arrest of a mother in connection with the death of two of her children at home was reported in the local and national media. The local authority obtained an order anonymising the surviving sibling. The mother, who was in a highly vulnerable state and had not been charged with any criminal offence, then applied to extend that order so that she too would be anonymised in further reports of the matter.
Should the mother be anonymised
The mother should not be anonymised. Although she was in a highly vulnerable state, and her article 8 rights were engaged, there was a strong public interest in the unanonymised reporting of arrests. The grandmother, who may be a prospective carer of the child, should however be anonymised since otherwise the child’s future care may be disrupted.
The judge underlined in emphatic terms the public interest in the reporting of crime.
