Court of Protection Hearings Opened To Media

A British judge has ruled that the media may attend a hearing in which the father of Steven Neary argues for the right to care for his 20-year-old autistic son. The judge noted that many of the details surrounding the case are already public. Normally, these cases, heard in the Court of Protection, are closed to the public, but the judge said, “Steven’s circumstances are already in the public domain to a considerable extent. If the claims made by Mr Neary and the Official Solicitor are made out [win the verdict], the facts deserve to be known to the public. If they are not made out, it may be right for the record to be corrected.” However, the judge reserved the possibility of closing the hearing if Mr. Neary showed substantial distress at the media’s presence or at the attendant publicity.