Britain | Chambers and secrets

Britain’s family courts are opening up to reporters

Transparency and privacy can work together

Illustration of a shadowy hand banging a gavel in the foreground with a double door in the background which is cracked open with light shining through
Illustration: Hokyoung Kim

URFAN SHARIF could stand it no longer. On August 10th 2023, just an hour after landing in Pakistan having fled Britain, he phoned the police in England and tearfully admitted to beating and killing his ten-year-old daughter, Sara. A court had awarded him care of Sara four years earlier, despite numerous reports suggesting he had been violent at home. Mr Sharif, along with his wife, is now back in Britain and in prison, having been found guilty of the child’s murder.

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