In an uncommon move, His Honour, Judge Edward Hess, has published an unredacted Family Court judgment concerning Kyle Walker, the Premier League footballer and England vice-captain. The case, “Lauryn Goodman v Kyle Walker,” concerns a financial remedies application regarding their youngest child.
The judge decided against anonymising or redacting the judgment, stating that doing so would open the Court to ridicule. This decision came after contemplating requests from reporters participating under the Family Court transparency pilot which began at Central Family Court earlier this year.
Associated Newspapers, supported by Walker, fought for the publication of most information about the proceedings, such as the unredacted judgment. They cited the parties’ celebrity status and existing public knowledge of their dispute.
Conversely, Goodman sought an ‘almost complete prohibition’ on publishing information, requesting any judgment be redacted or anonymised.
Judge Hess rejected Goodman’s request, stating the importance of press scrutiny of Court procedures and decisions. He stated:
“It would be a nonsense, opening the court to ridicule, to try to redact or anonymise this judgment to prevent identification of the parties… For me, on the facts of this case, the balancing exercise must come down against the mother’s argument. For me, the right of the press to scrutinise and comment upon the court’s procedures and decisions, and what the mother has requested of the father and how he has responded, are on this occasion a greater priority.”
Decision
The judge also said that he saw no benefit in restricting references to the children’s names, which were already widely publicised. The judge finalised that interested parties should have access to the full, independent account in the judgment prior to obtaining conclusions about the case.
Comment
This ruling marks a significant step in family Court transparency, allowing unprecedented public access to details of a high-profile case involving a prominent sports figure.
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