498. Conduct of the hearing.

The hearing must be held in public unless the appeal panel1 is satisfied that, in the interests of justice or for the protection of the private life of the appellant2, any person giving evidence, or any patient or client, the public should be excluded from all or part of the hearing3. At the beginning of the hearing the chair4 must explain to the parties5 the order of proceedings which the panel proposes to adopt6. The panel may conduct the hearing in such manner as it considers most suitable to the clarification of the issues before it and generally to