Deborah Jeff interviewed on BBC News at Ten about the naming of the judges involved in the Sara Sharif proceedings

Deborah explained that the Court of Appeal's decision to name the judges aligns transparency in the Family Courts with the wider justice system.

She noted that judges accept, when taking on their public role and duty, that there will likely be cases where their decisions will be subject to scrutiny and criticism. Until recently, however, Family Court judges were largely shielded from such exposure, as cases tended to remain private and unreported, unless judgments were published. The scrutiny they would face was largely from the families in the cases, their legal teams and other limited professionals who may have been given permission to see all or parts of the judgments.

Deborah went on to highlight that the development of open justice in the Family Courts over the last few years, since the care proceedings in the Sharif case were decided, now exposes the judges in those decisions in a way that they would not have predicted. She noted the outrage felt by many members of the public and explained that some are now looking to hold to account those in the Family justice system who they believe failed Sara.

Deborah concluded that the challenge now is to ensure that the rights of the judges to their own safety, privacy and family lives are not compromised as part of open justice in the Family Courts.

Deborah was interviewed on BBC News at Ten, 31 January 2025.