Testifying in court with no members of the public or journalists present

If you are the victim, whatever the type of crime committed, you can ask the judge to make an order excluding members of the public or journalists from the courtroom while you testify.

This is an exceptional measure since, as a fundamental principle of the justice system, proceedings generally take place in open court.

In general, witnesses testify in court in the presence of

• the judge;
• the criminal and penal prosecuting attorney (the prosecuting attorney in the case);
• the accused and his or her lawyer (defence lawyer);
• the public and the journalists who choose to attend the hearing.

All these people are present at the same time in the courtroom.

In some circumstances, the judge can exclude some or all members of the public from the courtroom, including journalists, by making an exclusion order.

In order to obtain an exclusion order, you can

• submit a request to the judge;
• ask the prosecuting attorney to submit a request to the judge on your behalf.

You can request an exclusion order at any time during the court proceedings.

To obtain the right to testify behind closed doors, you must prove that this is in the interest of justice and is necessary in the circumstances.

To decide whether the right to testify behind closed doors meets these 2 criteria, the judge considers the following factors:

• society’s interest in encouraging the reporting of offences and the participation of victims and witnesses in the criminal justice process;
• the nature of the offence;
• the safeguarding of your interests, if you are under the age of 18 years;
• your physical or mental disabilities;
• your ability to give a full and candid account of the acts complained of if the order were not made;
• your security, and protection against intimidation and retaliation;
• the protection of justice system participants who are involved in the proceedings, such as the prosecuting attorney and defence lawyer;
• whether effective alternatives to the making of the proposed order are available in the circumstances;
• the salutary and deleterious effects of the proposed order;
• any other relevant factor.

After agreeing to make an exclusion order, the judge establishes the conditions.

For example, the judge can exclude members of the public for the whole trial, or a part of the trial only, such as your testimony. The judge can also exclude all, or only some, members of the public.