Trial in absentia
Another case is when a court or committee must determine whether a person, such as a suspected terrorist, is going to be surveilled or wire-tapped, and whether there is enough suspicion of criminal activity or intent to do so. In that case, the person himself can of course not be asked to appear, as the idea is to hold the surveillance secret. In that case, a defender is appointed to make the case that the suspected person does not want to and does not deserve to be subjected to surveillance and that it should not be permitted, although he/she doesn't know of the proceedings. Most of such hearings, however, are not a trial in the technical sense of the term, though they may involve a judge and lawyer and so on.