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Asecret trial is atrial that is notopen to the public or generally reported in the news, especially any in-trial proceedings. Generally, no official record of the case or the judge'sverdict is made available. Often there is noindictment.
Secret trials have been characteristic of many dictatorships in the modern era, but are also used in many democratic nations, with the explanation of being necessary for national security. They are a hotly debated topic in many circles, but are generally accepted in the western world as they are seen as protecting the "greater good".
It is possible that some wholly-secret trials occurred in Australia duringWorld War I orWorld War II.[1]In the 21st century, several secret trials have occurred or are set to occur inAustralia:
Although theGreat Purges in theSoviet Union underJoseph Stalin are best remembered for theMoscow Trials,show trials in which the court became a parody of justice, most of the victims of the Terror were tried in secret.Mikhail Tukhachevsky and his fellowRed Army officers were tried in secret by amilitary tribunal, and their executions were announced only after the fact. The presiding judge of the Moscow Trials,Vasili Ulrikh, also presided over large numbers of secret trials, lasting only a few minutes, in which he would quickly speak his way through a pre-formulated charge and verdict.
In the United Kingdom, one of the most notorious secret courts was theStar Chamber under KingCharles I of England in the early 17th century. The abuses of the Star Chamber were one of the rallying points of the opposition that organized aroundOliver Cromwell and ultimately resulted in theexecution of the deposed king. The term "star chamber" became a generalized term for a court that was accountable to no one (except the chief executive) and was used to suppresspolitical dissent or eliminate the enemies of the regime.
R v Incedal and Rarmoul-Bouhadjar (2014) was to be the first British trial to be held entirely in secret.[4] However, the Court of Appeal blockedfull secrecy.[5]
TheFISA Courts of the national intelligence apparatus are by design secret courts and are empowered by theForeign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to conduct secret trials and to impose secret punishments. Counsel arguing in the court are also subject to a secrecy order against disclosure of information about any cases in front of the court. Individuals who have been targeted in the court are also subjected to secrecy orders. The court sitsex parte, in the absence of anyone but the judge and the government present at the hearings. That, combined with the minimal number of requests that are rejected by the court, has led experts to characterize it as arubber stamp; the formerNational Security Agency analystRuss Tice called it a "kangaroo court with a rubber stamp".[6]
