The Child Law Project, under the executive directorship of Dr Carol Coulter, has been commissioned by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to deliver a new Family Law Reporting Project, aimed at improving public understanding of private family law proceedings, while safeguarding the privacy of children and their families.
This project was awarded following a competitive procurement process that was launched on August 21st 2025 last. It is intended to build confidence in how private family law disputes are determined by the courts, while ensuring proceedings continue to remain private for those involved.
The Family Law Reporting Project is an initiative under Goal 6 (Data, Information and Management) of the Government’s Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025, which commits to improving data collection and sharing across the family justice system. Once established, the project is expected to run for three years.
Dr Coulter founded the Child Law Project in 2012 and has served as Executive Director since then. She is a former Legal Affairs Editor of The Irish Times and previously ran a pilot family law reporting project for the Courts Service in 2006/2007.
So what will the project will do:
Once operational, the Family Law Reporting Project is expected to:
- Gather and analyse information on key aspects of private family law cases to support statistical reporting and trend analysis.
- Produce accessible, anonymised reporting to enhance transparency and understanding of proceedings, while maintaining privacy protections for children and families.
Background
The Family Justice Strategy is also committed to reviewing the operation of the in-camera rule. An independent research report published in May 2025 made 21 recommendations on balancing transparency with the privacy rights of families and children, including recommendations related to private family law reporting.
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