When the Human Rights Act 1998 became part of UK law commentators sought to examine the way in which those articles of the European Convention on Human Rights incorporated into domestic law might make a difference to regulatory proceedings.
One point was that someone having his or her rights determined is, by virtue of Article 6 of the Convention, entitled to demand a public hearing subject only to certain limited exceptions. However, it is of course much more likely that a respondent to such proceedings would wish to have the proceedings dealt with in private, away from the glare of publicity. Can he or she insist upon a private hearing?
The Civil Procedure Rules (Part 39.2) contain a general rule that a court hearing is to be in public subject to a limited number of exceptions e.g. if publicity would defeat the object of the hearing, national security, the need to protect a child or a patient, or a private hearing is necessary in the interests of justice etc. Regulators,
