Before finding no reversible error in the Federal Court’s dismissal of the appellant’s application for judicial review of a decision of the Minister of National Revenue refusing its request for remission of tax, Stratas JA stated (at paras. 10-12):
We observe that the Federal Court closed its whole hearing to the public. It did so because the parties intended to make submissions about [an] earlier remission case … and confidential tax information was involved.
The Federal Court erred in closing the whole hearing. 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.