secret trial
Hidden court case
A secret trial is a legal proceeding conducted without public access or scrutiny, typically closed to observers and media.
Governments use secret trials for cases involving national security, classified information, or sensitive intelligence sources.
Critics argue they violate principles of open justice and enable abuses: The dissident was convicted in a secret trial and sentenced to fifteen years.
- closed-doorExcluding outside parties
- behind closed doorsIn private, unobserved
- hiddenKept out of sight
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
- tribunalJudicial decision-making body
classified · covert · kangaroo court · interrogation · gag order · prosecution · defendant · verdict · star chamber · military tribunal · detention · indefinite detention · confidential · witness · testimony · sealed · evidence · judge
- rights violationsillegal search, unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, coerced confession, double jeopardy
- secrecyconfidential, classified, hidden, hiding, concealment
- Inquisitioninquisition, heretic, inquisitors, heretics, auto-da-fe
secret trialopen court
Judicial proceedings accessible publicly
public trial · public hearing · open hearing · show trial · open session
secret trialfair trial
Impartial judicial proceeding
due process · trial by jury · open justice · public accountability
secret, trial, secrets, secretly, secrecy, secretive, secretively, secretary, secretarial