ABSTRACT
All courts must sit in public. A court cannot exclude the press and public simply because it thinks that the case before it should not be published, or to spare a person embarrassment. (But a court may exclude the public, though not the press, while a child is giving evidence in a sex case). Members of a court cannot hide their identities from the public. However, any court may exclude both public and press if it considers justice cannot otherwise be served, or if it has power by statute to exclude the public (for instance, a criminal court trying a case under the Official Secrets Acts) or where a witness might be intimidated.
