The Crown obtained an ex parte order for a judicial investigative hearing under s. 83.28 of the Criminal Code in relation to the Air India bombings.
The application judge ordered the hearing to be held in camera and kept secret.
A newspaper reporter discovered the proceedings and sought access.
The hearing judge dismissed the application for access.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the newspaper's appeal in part, holding that the open court principle applies to s. 83.28 hearings.
While the initial ex parte application was properly held in camera, the existence of the order and the constitutional challenge should have been public.
The investigative hearing itself must be presumptively open, subject to the Dagenais/Mentuck test for publication bans or in camera orders.
