Secret six-week trial opens in B.C. Supreme Court

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A trial that’s anticipated to run for six weeks however is shrouded in secrecy started Monday on the B.C. Supreme Courtroom in Vancouver.

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The key trial is going on within the wake of a current story within the Nationwide Put up detailing a regarding rise within the variety of discretionary publication bans being sought in Canadian courts.

The case on the Vancouver Legislation Courts is referred to on the court docket docket as “Named Individuals V. Legal professional-Normal of Canada,” however little or no else in regards to the civil matter is available.

When a reporter arrived on the courtroom shortly earlier than the trial was to start, the doorways have been open and there was a small variety of legal professionals current.

One of many legal professionals, who declined to be recognized, mentioned there was a publication ban on the case and famous that the court docket file had been sealed, however didn’t present particulars of the ban and added that the matter must be addressed by the trial decide, B.C. Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson.

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However earlier than the arrival of Hinkson, B.C.’s prime trial court docket decide, a court docket clerk handed a typed discover to the sheriff, who suggested the reporter that the case was going in-camera, or behind closed doorways. The reporter left the courtroom.

A clerk within the civil registry confirmed that the file was sealed and declined to supply any particulars of the case, together with the names of counsel concerned within the matter.

Later, a Postmedia lawyer was instructed a lot the identical factor when he made inquiries in regards to the sealing order on the registry.

The doorways to the courtroom remained closed after the lunch break. Nobody answered a knock on the door. The discover, which mentioned, “This courtroom is closed to the general public”, remained hooked up to the door of the courtroom.

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Retired decide Bruce Cohen, who acts as a spokesman for the superior courts, mentioned that he had made inquiries into the explanation why the case had gone in-camera, however there was no data accessible to him that he may go on.

The federal justice division, which handles media inquiries in regards to the Legal professional-Normal of Canada, had no quick response to a request for particulars in regards to the case.

Canadian courts are presumed to be open to the general public, however in some circumstances both laws or a court docket can require a continuing be held in-camera.

The Nationwide Put up story outlined knowledge from 4 provinces, together with B.C., that indicated a 25-per-cent enhance within the variety of discretionary publication bans looked for civil and prison circumstances over the previous two years.

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Different knowledge from the B.C. attorney-general’s ministry indicated a considerable rise in discretionary bans really imposed in B.C. Supreme Courtroom and the Provincial Courtroom over the previous 10 years.

Mark Bantey, a longtime media lawyer in Montreal, mentioned Monday that he wasn’t positive the way it works in B.C. courts, however that if the Vancouver file was sealed, the media ought to have the ability to discover out why it was sealed, when it was sealed, and if the media got a chance to problem the sealing order.

“As a result of if the media weren’t given a chance to problem the sealing order, you need to have the ability to intervene and problem it.”

Bantey, who has represented nationwide and native media, mentioned that it was “extremely distinctive” for a trial to be closed to the general public, however that it does happen in some circumstances.

kfraser@postmedia.com

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