In camera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the album by Peter Hammill, see In Camera (album).

In camera (Latin: "in chamber") is a legal term meaning "in secret".

It applies to court cases (or portions thereof) to which the public are not admitted. Certain cases may be ordered to be heard in camera when matters to do with national security are concerned. Otherwise, justice in free countries operates under the principle that in order for justice to be done, justice needs to be seen, and the admission of the public to the court is considered a right.

In camera sessions are also a common point of order during board meetings, where information is provided that is not reflected in the minutes, and not available to the public. Some topics that may be discussed during in camera sessions include personnel decisions, financial decisions that must be kept secret (for example, where an organization is contemplating purchasing land but does not yet want competitors or the public to know about this strategy) or other sensitive issues related to the organization.

[edit] See also

• In limine
• United States v. The Progressive, et al. — a case where two trials were held simultaneously, one in camera and one public

[edit] Alternate meaning

In Camera is also one of the proposed translations of the title of Jean-Paul Sartre's play Huis Clos, a French legal term with the same meaning.