§ Rule 5-III. Sealed or Confidential Documents

Codes > District of Columbia Official Code > Superior Court > II. Commencement > Rule 5-III.

Rule 5-III. Sealed or Confidential Documents

(a)Absent statutory authority, no case or document may be sealed without an order from the Court. Any document filed with the intention of being sealed shall be accompanied by a motion to seal or an existing order. The document will be treated as sealed, pending the ruling on the motion. Failure to file a motion to seal will result in the pleading being placed in the public record.

(b)Unless otherwise ordered or otherwise specifically provided in these Rules, all documents submitted for a confidential in camera inspection by the Court, which are the subject of a Protective Order, which are subject to an existing order that they be sealed, or which are the subject of a motion for such orders, shall be submitted to the Clerk securely sealed. The envelope/box containing such documents shall contain a conspicuous notation such as “DOCUMENT UNDER SEAL” or “DOCUMENTS SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER” or the equivalent.

(c)The face of the envelope/box shall also contain the case number, the title of the Court, a descriptive title of the document and the case caption unless such information is to be, or has been, included among the information ordered sealed. The face of the envelope/box shall also contain the date of any order or the reference to any statute permitting the item to be sealed.

(d)Filings of sealed materials shall be made only in the Clerk's Office during regular business hours. Such filings of sealed materials at the security desk are prohibited because the Security Officers are not authorized to accept this material.