“The open court principle is a fundamental principle of law that is codified by s. 135 of the CJA. Nevertheless, s. 137 of the CJA provides that a court may exclude the public from the hearing and may order that any document filed in a civil proceeding before it be treated as confidential, sealed and not form part of the public record. Such order should be granted where: (1) it is necessary to prevent a serious risk to an important interest in the context of litigation because reasonably alternative measures will not prevent the risk; and (2) the salutary effects of the order outweigh its deleterious effects: Sierra Club of Canada v. Canada (Minister of Finance), 2002 SCC 41 (CanLII), [2002] 2 S.C.R. 522, para. 53.
The privacy interests of a person who makes an allegation of sexual assault or sexual harassment in a civil proceeding is high, particularly when she has not initiated the civil proceeding. A complainant may be subject to unnecessary trauma and embarrassment, both for herself and her family, if she is identified. Without protection of her privacy interests, a person who has been sexually assaulted or sexually harassed may be unwilling to come forward. Further, the failure to afford such protection to a person alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment may deter other persons from coming forward to report sexual misconduct. Such interests are recognized and protected in a criminal proceeding as s. 486.4 of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, provides that an order banning publication of any information that could identify a victim of sexual assault is mandatory if sought by the Crown or victim. In my view, the policy reflected by s. 486.4 of the Criminal Code is equally applicable in these civil proceedings.”