Who can I discuss my case with?

Details of your Court case must be treated in confidence, although you are allowed to share information and discuss them with:

• your solicitor or barrister.
• any other parties in your case.
• a CAFCASS Officer, Welsh Family Proceedings Officer or a Welfare Officer.
• the Legal Services Commission.
• an expert authorised by the Court.
• a professional, including the Police and the NSPCC, whose job it is to protect children.
• a lay adviser (e.g. Citizens Advice Bureau) or a McKenzie friend (person granted permission by the Court to assist you and give advice, take notes etc), to allow you to get help and advice in connection with your case and in Court.
• your spouse, cohabitant or close family member, so you can have confidential discussions with them.
• a health care professional or a person/body providing counselling services for children and families, so you can seek health care or counselling for yourself or your child.
• the Children´s Commissioner or the Children´s Commissioner for Wales, so you can refer a matter to them which may affect the interests of children.
• a person or body conducting an approved research project, so that they can carry out the project.
• a mediator so that you can receive mediation in relation to the proceedings.
• a person or body responsible for investigating complaints about legal representatives or advisers so that they can investigate or determine the complaint in question.

The relevant permissions are granted in sections 12.73 and 12.75 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010.

With whom can I discuss my Court Orders?

In addition to the individuals and organisations mentioned in the last second, you can discuss the text of a Court Order with:

• your Member of Parliament (MP), Member of European Parliament elected in England and Wales, National Assembly Member, or a Member of the House of Lords so they can advise you, investigate a complaint or raise a question related to policy or procedure.
• the General Medical Council so you can make a complaint to the GMC.
• a Police Officer so they can investigate a crime, or whether a crime has been committed.
• a member of the Crown Prosecution Service so that it can carry out its legal functions.

If there are other people who you feel should be aware of details of a Court Order, such as your child´s school or General Practitioner, you need to ask the Court for permission before you can do this. Your solicitor can help you to do this.

What about asking for advice?

Family Procedure Rule 12.75 grants certain permissions, including the right to seek confidential advice from 'any person':

Communication by a party, or the legal representative of a party, on that party´s instructions, may communicate information relating to the proceedings to any person where necessary to enable that party:

(a) by confidential discussion, to obtain support, advice or assistance in the conduct of the proceedings. This allows a party to communicate with a health care professional or a person or body providing counselling services for children or families any information relating to the proceedings to enable the party or any child of the party to obtain health care or counselling;

(b) to engage in mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution;

It is however important to be aware that the rules also state that:

Where information is communicated to any person in accordance with (a), no further communication by that person is permitted.

The courts are well aware that parents seek advice from lay advisers, and specialist forums where questions may be answered in relation to proceedings. Indeed, past Presidents of the Family Division of the Court have noted the worth of such support mechanisms. The Citizens Advice Bureau, Families Need Fathers and other organisations offer lay advice, and the court's permission to seek lay advice has never been required (or the lack of permission criticised.

If you offer lay advice, you MUST treat what is said to you in confidence.

What could happen if I talk to others?

Unless you have the permission of the Court, sharing information with an unauthorised person, or publishing details of your Court case publicly or within the media, can be a "Contempt of Court".

How should I share information about the case or Court Order?

If you do need to share information (within the restrictions detailed in this Chapter) ensure anything in writing includes the wording "Private and Confidential" and that the people you either tell or give the information to are aware of the restrictions. Keep a record of the people you handed information to, and the reason why you did.

Must a solicitor or barrister treat what I tell them in confidence?

Yes, although solicitors and barristers also have a duty not to mislead the Court. If they become aware of information that is harmful to your case and you withhold your permission for them to disclose it to the Court, they are entitled to refuse to continue to work for you.

A solicitor should consider breaking the confidentiality rule in circumstances where they consider there to be serious health risks to a child or a threat to a child´s life.

What about social media?

We would strongly advise against posting details of your court case, details about your children's circumstances, or criticism of your ex-partner on social media such as Facebook, blogs or Twitter. If you do, at worst, you could be committed to prison for contempt of court. At best, if the court becomes aware of this, you may face injunctions, warnings, or upset the judge (never a good idea!).