Divorce proceedings are to be live-streamed from courtrooms in England and Wales for the first time in history, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced on Thursday.

The move is in a bid to increase public understanding of the justice system and will see real cases broadcast from the court of appeal on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

The cases will not be televised and it will be up to discretion of individual judges over which cases are shown. Couples will also be allowed to object and veto their case if they decide to do so.

There will also be a one-minute delay before cases go live to prevent disruptions or verbal outbursts being shared online.

Viewers will be able to see the judge, the bench and the backs of the barristers for the divorcing couple. The couple themselves and families in care proceedings will not be filmed.

Anonymity can also be awarded due heightened sensitivity of family cases as well.

A statement released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) says recent examples of such trials include looking at issues around “Islamic faith marriage, access to fertility records or transgender identity”.

The move comes after the government allowed cameras to film judges sentencing remarks in high-profile criminal trials at the Old Bailey, earlier this year.

The Supreme Court has been broadcasting proceedings since 2009 and gets around 20,000 views every month.

The first hearings could be shown as early as the summer.

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Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland said: “Every day family court judges do outstanding work making difficult decisions in highly emotive cases, often involving children.

“By working with the judiciary on innovative pilots such as this we are making the system as transparent as possible, with the right safeguards in place.”

Divorce rates for heterosexual couples in England and Wales fell last year to their lowest for nearly half a century – at only 90,871 – the lowest since 1971.

In the period 2017-2018 there were 101,669 divorces between opposite-sex couples meaning there has been a drop of 10.6 per cent in just 12 months.