All courts should work openly and publicly so that their decisions are available for public scrutiny.
This means that the court should not hold hearings and adopt judgements in secret, ensuring that the work of the court is open and visible to the public.
Right to a public hearing
Your right to a public hearing involves:
1. A right to hold an oral hearing at the first instance which members of the public can attend
Bear in mind that in certain cases a court may decide not to hold a public hearing and examine a case in writing instead. The court of cassation will hold a public hearing only if it decides so. Read more about an oral hearing.
example A hearing can be held in writing if the court only deals with technical issues or interpretation of law.
2. A right to public announcement of the judgment
The requirement to pronounce a judgment in public does not mean that each judgment must be announced in a courtroom with members of the public present. A judgment will be considered to have been pronounced publicly if it is made available to the public, for example, though a special website. Depending on the circumstances of the case, certain parts of the judgment may be concealed.
example A person’s medical data or other confidential information can be concealed.
Exceptions
Generally, oral court hearings must be public, which means that members of the public and press are allowed to be present in the courtroom. However, the press and other members of society may be excluded from participating in some hearings if there are special reasons for this.
example Closed court sessions may be held to protect a minor involved in the proceedings, to protect the private life of one of the participants, or when a case involves the examination of a state or business secret.
In all cases, when a judge makes a decision to hold a hearing that is closed to public, he/she must provide specific reasons for such decision. There must be reasons for holding a closed session for each hearing or part of a hearing.
example The need to protect a witness cannot justify the examination of the entire case in closed sessions if the witness is only questioned in one session.