The UK Court of Appeal has held that witnesses who were the subject of judicial criticism during family proceedings could appeal findings on the basis of a breach of human rights.
In this case, the judgement in care proceedings criticised two witnesses in the case, along with the applicant local authority. In a short oral judgement, the Judge found that the witnesses, a social worker and a police officer, had conspired to prove certain allegations without regard to the truth or professional guidelines. While this was not at issue in the court proceedings, the Judge proposed to name them both in his final written judgment and directed that social worker’s employer “must be alerted to my findings as a matter of urgency”. Following submissions by the witnesses certain changes were made to the judgement, but the parties nonetheless appealed.
The Court of Appeal had to consider whether the witnesses were entitled to appeal in the first place, in addition to Article 6 and 8 arguments.
The Court found that the witnesses were in fact a 'party' to the proceedings, given that they were affected by the decision and with a real interest in it. The Court noted that the Article 8 right to a private and family life applies to professional lives. The effect on the appellants had been considerable with one losing her job, and professional reputations clearly compromised. The process was also seen as manifestly unfair as the findings were outside the remit of the court. This was despite the fact that the parties were given opportunity to make submissions on the written judgement, as this should be done before a final decision was made.
Click here for full judgement.