Jeremy Bentham Open Court Principle

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Recommended: Section one of the canadian charter of rights and freedoms

The spirit of Jeremy Bentham's words is embodied today in what we call the open court principle. According to this principle, public trust in the legal system can be established only when there is transparency and court proceedings are open to both the media and members of the public. (https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2004/2004scc43/2004scc43.html) While few hold the belief that the courts always ought to operate in camera, or behind closed doors out of the public eye. However, there are certain circumstances where the value of open justice appears to conflict with an individual's rights.

On July 23, 2015, the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights was enacted, (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-23.7/FullText.html) which has as its primary aim the protection of the dignity and privacy of victims of crime throughout criminal justice proceedings. One component of this bill, that which is most interesting with regards to sexual assault law, is that victims are given the right to request that their identity be concealed from the public via a publication ban. The intention of publication bans, according to the Department of …show more content…

However, this freedom, like all those enshrined in the Charter, is subject to Section 1's qualifier (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/Const/page-15.html) that rights can be limited if such limitations can be “demonstrably justified in a free and democratic

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