When a crime victim testifies as a witness, in what circumstances may the court keep the hearing closed to the public?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the application asking for a closed hearing and note who signed it, since the provision names the victim, the victim's legal representative and the prosecutor. We also read the court's written ruling and any statement of the reasons it gives for the secrecy of the victim's private life or the protection of the victim's person.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes every condition in turn: only where a victim of a crime is being examined as a witness, only on an application by that victim, the victim's legal representative or the prosecutor, and only where the court finds closure necessary for the secrecy of the victim's private life or the protection of the victim's person, may the court decide not to hold the hearing in public.
Another reading stresses what the provision does not provide: it says nothing about how the necessity is to be shown, nothing about whether the victim's objection can defeat an application made by the prosecutor, and nothing about the position where no application at all is made, so the closed hearing cannot arise in those situations under this provision.
Your judgment
Where the file shows private-life material but no threat to the victim's person, what would make the court find that closure is necessary on that ground alone?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to let the court order a closed hearing on its own motion, or if a court decision explains what satisfies the necessity finding it requires.