Shona Love was successful in what appears to be the first reported case of its kind in Family Law Act proceedings, securing disclosure to the relevant regulatory authorities for police conduct of serious judicial findings that the Applicant, a serving police officer, knowingly set out matters they knew not to be true in their application for the extension of a Non-Molestation Order and lied on oath before a Recorder by asserting that a police investigation into the Respondent was continuing when they knew it was not. The Judge concluded that the Applicant had procured the extension of the order by “deception.”
She was equally successful in persuading the court to grant disclosure for a secondary purpose, allowing the Respondent to pursue complaints against the Police concerning their failure to comply with disclosure obligations throughout the proceedings and their treatment of the Respondent.
Shona further advanced detailed submissions in support of publication of the judgment, which was opposed, relying on Tooley v Tooley [2025],[1] which referred to Allan v Clibbery [2002][2], Re Guardian News and Media Ltd [2010],[3] and Xanthopoulos v Aleksandrovna [2022][4], together with the President’s guidance on transparency. Shona’s submissions emphasised that, given the novel circumstances of the case and the gravity of the findings, the balance should fall firmly in favour of Article 10, relying on the principle of open justice, the strong presumption of transparency, and the reduced expectation of privacy where the conduct concerned both a serving police officer in a public service role and a public authority, the Police, such that publication was in the public interest.
The court conducted a balancing exercise between Articles 8 and 10, coming down in favour of publication but ultimately refusing to lift anonymisation. The decision attracted the interest of the Transparency Project, which reported on the case here. The judgment is also available on BAILII here.
[1]Tooley v Tooley [2025] EWFC 81(B)
[2]Allan v Clibbery [2002] EWCA Civ 45
[3]Re Guardian News and Media Ltd [2010] 2 AC 697
[4]Xanthopoulos v Aleksandrovna [2022] EWFC 30
