Attempts to obtain information about a sex-crime trial that took place in mid-June at the High Court have been unsuccessful.
The trial was held in camera, meaning that the public and members of the media were barred from attending.
Director of Public Prosecutions Wayne Rajbansie has not responded to requests for information about the trial, and an official at the High Court directed this reporter to the High Court Registry.
High Court Registrar Erica Smith-Penn, however, said last week that the court will not release any information about trials held in camera, even after they have concluded.
According to Ms. Smith-Penn, the court has to do a “balancing act” when it comes to providing the public with information and protecting the rights of certain individuals to privacy.
“We live in a very small community,” she said.
The High Court has been regularly restricting media access since November 2013, when Mr. Rajbansie announced a new “policy” of requesting that sex-crime trials involving juvenile complainants be heard in camera.
Since then, High Court judges have repeatedly agreed to these requests, though the media has occasionally been permitted to attend sentencing proceedings after such trials have concluded.
In part because of the principle of open justice, it is highly unusual for the media in a democratic country to be regularly barred from trials involving adult defendants.
In the case of trials involving juveniles, media agencies typically withhold the names of any minors who are alleged to be victims or perpetrators of crimes.
It is unclear if the virtual complainant in the June case was a juvenile.