Domestic and Appellate Proceedings (Restriction of Publicity) Act 1968

2 Restriction of publicity for legitimacy proceedings, etc., and certain proceedings by a wife for maintenance.

(1) The following provisions of this section shall have effect with a view to preventing or restricting publicity for—

(a) proceedings under section 39 of the [1965 c. 72.] Matrimonial Causes Act 1965 (which relates to declarations of legitimacy and the like), including any proceedings begun before the commencement of that Act and carried on under that section; and

(b) proceedings under section 22 of that Act (which relates to proceedings by a wife against her husband for maintenance), including any proceedings begun before the said commencement and carried on under that section and any proceedings for the discharge or variation of an order made or deemed to have been made under that section or for the temporary suspension of any provision of any such order or the revival of the operation of any provision so suspended.

(2) At the end of the said section 39 there shall be added the following subsection:—

“(9) The court (including a county court) by which any proceedings under this section are heard may direct that the whole or any part of the proceedings shall be heard in camera, and an application for a direction under this subsection shall be heard in camera unless the court otherwise directs.”

(3) Section (1)(b) of the [1926 c. 61.] Judicial Proceedings (Regulation of Reports) Act 1926 (which restricts the reporting of matrimonial causes) shall extend to any such proceedings as are mentioned in subsection (1) above subject, in the case of the proceedings mentioned in subsection (1)(a) above, to the modification that the matters allowed to be printed or published by virtue of sub-paragraph (ii) of the said section 1(1)(b) shall be particulars of the declaration sought by a petition (instead of a concise statement of the charges, defences and countercharges in support of which evidence has been given).