Chapter iv  Right to a Public Hearing 83 or comment; hence, the Court found that in such proceedings the exclusion of the press and public may be justified.317 4.1.6 Exclusion to avoid prejudice to the interests of justice Where, in the opinion of the court, publicity would prejudice the interests of justice, the press and public may be excluded from judicial proceedings. To avoid an unjustifiably wide application, this ground of exclusion is expressed carefully within both the ICCPR and ECHR. Exclusion to avoid prejudice to the interests of justice may only occur “to the extent strictly necessary… in special circumstances” (as articulated in both instruments). The application of this ground of exclusion is limited to situations where the court believes that publicity would prejudice “the interests of justice”. The UN Economic and Social Council has, in its Siracusa Principles, referred to this ground as being limited to circumstances where publicity would be prejudicial to the fairness of the trial.318 4.1.7 Waiver of the right to a public hearing According to the European Court of Human Rights, the requirement to hold a hearing in public might be waived based on the will of the person concerned.319 In Thompson v the United Kingdom, the European Court explained that a waiver of any right guaranteed by the ECHR (in so far as it is permissible) must not run counter to any important public interest; requires minimum guarantees commensurate to the waiver’s importance; and must be established in an unequivocal manner.320 In criminal proceedings, the latter point means that any waiver of the right to a public hearing would be made by the defendant. In civil proceedings, it should be assumed that waiver of the requirement to hold a hearing in public must be consented to by all parties to the proceedings, although there is no case directly addressing this point. In contrast to this approach, the Human Rights Committee has spoken of a duty to provide (through both legislation and judicial practice) for the possibility of the public attending a hearing “if the public so wish” and regardless of whether this has been requested by one of the parties in the proceedings.321 The approach of the Committee has been that the provision of public hearings is a duty that “is not dependent on any request, by the interested party”.322 The attitude of the Human Rights Committee is based on the general view that rights may not be waived and that the right to a public hearing is an interest of the public which may not be surrendered by a party to the proceedings. 317 B. and P. v the United Kingdom [2001] ECHR 298, para 38. 318 UN ECOSOC, Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Doc E/CN.4/1985/4, Annex (1985), para 38(a). 319 H. v Belgium [1987] ECHR 30, para 54. 320 Thompson v the United Kingdom [2004] ECHR 267, para 43. See also, Håkansson and Sturesson v Sweden [1990] ECHR 1, para 66; Pfeifer and Plankl v Austria [1992] ECHR 2, para 37. 321 Van Meurs v the Netherlands, HRC Communication 215/1986, UN Doc CCPR/C/39/D/215/1986 (1990), para 6.1. 322 Van Meurs v the Netherlands, HRC Communication 215/1986, UN Doc CCPR/C/39/D/215/1986 (1990), para 6.1.