Filing In Camera

Submitters have the option to request that a filing be sealed when they argue that the document includes extremely sensitive information that should not be exposed to anyone other than the court. For example, this might occur in the rare situations where business trade secrets must be divulged, such as the recipe for Coca-Cola, and the filer is asking the court to keep that disclosure from opposing counsel and the public. In these situations, the application to file in camera, which means 'in private', can be added to a filing through the Filing Documents tab (Supreme, Superior, Commonwealth). Since this application is requesting that another document be sealed, it must be submitted simultaneously with the content sensitive document.

This application can be submitted on a PACFiling for any new or existing case. Once added, a unique column, called Viewable To, appears in the grid on the Filing Documents tab. When a value of Court Only appears in the Viewable To column for any filing type, it indicates the corresponding document is only viewable to the court and no one else. When the Viewable To column is blank for a given filing type, there are no restrictions on the document.

When creating a PACFiling for an existing case, the application itself is not assigned the Court Only value since the request to file in camera is not itself considered sensitive or private. All other filing types that are submitted with the application, however, are temporarily assigned a value of Court Only. After the PACFiling is submitted and the court rules on the application, the court may adjust the restrictive settings for the Court Only documents. If the application is denied, the Court Only designation is removed from all documents on the PACFiling. If the application is granted, the Viewable To values for each filing type remain unchanged and the visibility remains limited to the court.

When creating a PACFiling for a new case, neither the application nor the initiating filing document (ex. Petition for Allowance of Appeal or Petition for Review) are assigned the Counsel Only value. Initiating documents cannot be filed in camera. Any other filing types that are submitted simultaneously with the application are assigned a value of Court Only. Similar to PACFilings on existing cases, the Viewable To values may be updated by the court based on how they have ruled on the application.

The steps below, which are not meant to be comprehensive, describe how the process is unique when filing an Application to File Under In Camera on an exiting case or initiating a new case:

	How to file an Application to File in Camera on an existing case
1.	In the Select Filing screen, click on the Filing Type dropdown and select Application to File In Camera.
2.	In the Filing Documents tab, click on the Add Optional Filing icon and select the filing that you are requesting to have sealed.
3.	In the Document Management popup screen, click the Add Document icon .
4.	Click CHOOSE File and locate the corresponding document in the popup. Click OPEN to upload the document.
5.	In the Document Management popup screen, click on the Confidentiality dropdown menu and select the confidentiality option that best describes the document as it relates to the Public Access Policy of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
6.	Click SAVE. Note: In the Filing Documents tab, the Court Only value will display for the filing type that was identified in Step 2.

	How to add Application to File In Camera to a case initiating filing
1.	In the Select Filing screen, click on the Filing Type dropdown and select the filing type that is initiating the case (ex. Petition for Allowance of Appeal or Petition for Review).
2.	In the Filing Documents tab, click on the Add Optional Filing icon and select Application to File In Camera.
3.	In the Document Management popup screen, click the Add Document icon .
4.	Click CHOOSE File and locate the corresponding document in the popup. Click OPEN to upload the document.
5.	In the Document Management popup screen, click on the Confidentiality dropdown menu and select the confidentiality option that best describes the document as it relates to the Public Access Policy of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
6.	Click SAVE.
7.	Repeat Steps 2-6 for any other filing types you are adding to your filing. You must add at least one since the initiating filing document and the application cannot be filed under seal. Note: In the Filing Documents tab, the Court Only value will display for the filing type that was identified in Step 2.