QLDIn ForceAct
Justices Act 1886
sec.70Open court
Start here
Get a plain-English read of sec.70
Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Justices Act 1886.
### sec.70 Open court
The room or place in which justices sit to hear and determine any complaint upon which a conviction or order may be made, shall be deemed an open and public court, to which all persons may have access so far as the same can conveniently contain them.
However, in any case in which, in the opinion of the justices, the interests of public morality require that all or any persons should be excluded from the court, the justices may exclude such persons therefrom accordingly.
But such power shall not be exercised for the purpose of excluding the defendant’s lawyer.
s 70 amd 2004 No. 11 s 596 sch 1
(sec.70-ssec.1) The room or place in which justices sit to hear and determine any complaint upon which a conviction or order may be made, shall be deemed an open and public court, to which all persons may have access so far as the same can conveniently contain them.
(sec.70-ssec.2) However, in any case in which, in the opinion of the justices, the interests of public morality require that all or any persons should be excluded from the court, the justices may exclude such persons therefrom accordingly.
(sec.70-ssec.3) But such power shall not be exercised for the purpose of excluding the defendant’s lawyer.