public trials
Courtroom everyone watches
Public trials are legal proceedings open to observation by ordinary citizens and the press, as opposed to closed or secret proceedings.
The principle ensures transparency in the justice system—defendants can't be railroaded behind closed doors, and the public can witness how courts operate.
The Constitution guarantees the right to a public trial.
Certain circumstances (protecting minors, national security) may warrant closing portions of a trial.
- due processGuaranteed judicial fairness
- constitutional rightsLegally protected individual freedoms
- legal precedentPrior ruling with authority
- jury selectionChoosing trial decision-makers
- transparencyState of being see-through
privacy rights · press freedom · deliberations · jurors · court proceedings · witness stand · closing arguments · jury · court of law · open court · Sixth Amendment · right to counsel · victim protection · news coverage · media ethics · freedom of information · spectators · gavel
- criminal justicearrest, jail, court, prison, crime
- Court Transparencytransparency, open justice, court records, judicial proceedings, court documents
- criminal courtstrials, courtroom, verdicts, defendants, accused
- criminal trialstrials, accused, verdicts, convictions, charges
- Greek lawdike, archon, lawgivers, written law, codification
- Chinese Courtshigh courts, higher courts, circuit courts, judges, chief justice
public trialskangaroo courts
Unauthorized proceedings ignoring fairness
show trials · summary executions · military tribunals · detention without trial · indefinite detention
public trialsshow trials
Propaganda-driven mock prosecutions
kangaroo courts · military tribunals · summary justice · star chambers · inquisitions