trial in camera
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GC: n

S: RESG – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327129587_The_invention_of_trials_in_camera_in_security_cases (last access: 7 December 2024); AdvocKhoj – https://www.advocatekhoj.com/library/lawreports/rapeandalliedoffences/103.php?Title=Rape%20and%20Allied%20Offences%20-%20Some%20Questions%20of%20Substantive%20Law,%20Procedire%20and%20Evidence&STitle=Trial%20in%20camera-Section%20327,%20Cr.%20P.C (last access: 7 December 2024).

N: 1. – trial (n): mid-15c., “an examination before a court” to determine guilt or innocence or the rightness of a cause; also “a trial by arms;” from Anglo-French trial, noun formed from Old French trier “to try, pick out, cull” (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *triare, a word of unknown origin.

  • It is attested by late 15c. generally as “act or process of testing; a putting to proof by examination, experiment, etc.” By 1540s as “state of being tried, a being subject to affliction or trouble through experience of something.”
  • As an adjectival phrase, (rule of) trial-and-error is recorded from 1806. Trial balloon (1826) translates French ballon d’essai, a small balloon sent up immediately before a manned ascent to determine the direction and tendency of winds in the upper air, though the earliest use in English is figurative.

– in camera (adj): Adverb used as an adjective in this case. Meaning: in private, secretly.

  • New Latin, literally, in a chamber. The first known use of in camera was in 1872.

2. In camera is a Latin term which literally translates to “in chambers” but carries the meaning “in private”. Portions of a case held in camera are held in private before a judge where the press and the public are not allowed to take part. In camera proceedings are generally deemed less intrusive than public proceedings and are thus often used when dealing with sensitive information. For example, as seen in United States v. Zolin, courts will review in camera to determine if certain communications are covered by attorney-client privilege.

3. – Meetings and Assemblies (Administration); Parliamentary Language; Citizenship and Immigration; Rules of Court:  in camera (adjective), with closed doors, behind closed doors, held in private.

  • From which the public is excluded.

– Courts; Rules of Court: closed court.

  • A court is said to “be closed” when no person is present with the court during its deliberation in any matter.
  • Not to be confused with a court sitting “in camera”.

4. Guidance for the Court of Protection: ‘Closed hearings’ and ‘closed material’.

Application

– This practice guidance applies to ‘closed hearings’ and ‘closed material,’ defined as follows:

a. “Closed hearings” are hearings from which (1) a party; and (2) (where the party is represented) the party’s representative is excluded by order of the court.  For the avoidance of doubt, this is different to a “private hearing,” which is a hearing at which all the parties are present (or represented), but from which members of the public and the press are excluded;

b. “Closed material” is material which the court has determined should not be seen by the party (and/or their representative).

– The practice guidance also applies to situations where an order may be made that a party (and/or their representative) is not to be told of the fact or outcome of a without notice application.

5. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the 1959 Italian movie A porte chiuse (Behind Closed Doors) by Dino Risi, and the German film Unter Ausschluß der Öffentlichkeit (Blind Justice o Excluded to the Public) directed by Harald Philipp in 1961.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=trial+in+camera (last access: 7 December 2024); MW – https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20camera (last access: 7 December 2024); FCB. 2. LawCorn – https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/in_camera (7 December 2024). 3. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=in+camera&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs, https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=CLOSED+COURT&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 7 December 2024). 4. JudicUK – https://www.judiciary.uk/guidance-and-resources/guidance-for-the-court-of-protection-closed-hearings-and-closed-material/ (last access: 7 December 2024). 5. IMDb – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054589/, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055575/ (last access: 7 December 2024); FA – https://www.filmaffinity.com/us/film605798.html (last access: 7 December 2024); Wikiwand – https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Blind_Justice_(1961_film) (last access: 7 December 2024).

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CR: trial