As a general rule, pleadings and exhibits filed into court are
public in nature and can be accessed by anyone, including
journalists. In exceptional cases however, it is possible to remove
them from public scrutiny, either by having them sealed or
withdrawing them from the court record once the file has been
closed.
The Quebec Superior Court recently reconsidered its status as a
court of record in its decision CIUSS de
l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal v.
M.K.1
* * *
I– Facts
A health care institution, the Centre intégré
universitaire de santé et de services sociaux de
l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal (the
"CIUSSS") applied for the
removal from the court record of its exhibits,
which had been sealed during the proceedings, after having
discontinued its action against a former employee of a hospital
affiliated with the CIUSSS. Relying on the second paragraph of
article 108 of the Code of Civil Procedure2, it
insisted on the need to protect the confidentiality of
