Once a judgment has become final, on what grounds may a prosecutor limit viewing or copying the court record, and what must the applicant be told?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For a practice file of this kind, we read the application to view or copy the record, the note showing whether the trial was held in private, any consent by a party to the proceeding, and the prosecutor's notice stating the reason for any restriction.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading treats restriction as the prosecutor's call: the prosecutor may restrict viewing or copying of all or part of the record where the trial was held in private, or where release would substantially harm state security, good morals, public order or public welfare, the reputation, private secrets, safety or peace of a person involved, make evidence destruction or escape by a co-offender easier or seriously affect a related trial, obstruct the defendant's reform or rehabilitation, or seriously infringe a trade secret, or where a party to the proceeding does not consent to disclosure.
Another reading is narrower: none of those grounds applies where a party to the proceeding or an interested third party is recognised as having a justified reason for the viewing or copying, and any restriction made must be notified to the applicant with its reason stated, so the file has to show both the ground and the notice.
Your judgment
Where a party to the proceeding or an interested third party is recognised as having a justified reason, what in the file shows that this recognition was made?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the list of grounds is amended, or if a court decision on an application to cancel or change the prosecutor's disposition explains when the justified-cause proviso prevails.