Federal Court of Appeal finds that a Federal Court proceeding should not have been completely closed to the public

Stratas JA found no reversible error in the Federal Court’s dismissal of the appellant’s application for judicial review of the Minister’s refusal to remit tax under the Financial Administration Act. Before so concluding, he observed that the Federal Court had closed its whole hearing to the public because the parties intended to make submissions about an earlier remission case including disclosure of confidential tax information. Stratas JA stated:

The default is that court proceedings are open. Any secrecy must be necessary, justified and minimized … .

… In the Federal Court, the submissions containing confidential information were only a small part of the hearing. At most, it should have closed only a small part of its hearing.

Neal Armstrong. Summaries of Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres v. Canada (Attorney General), 2023 FCA 236 under Federal Court Rule 151(2) and Financial Administration Act s. 23(2).