Rule 1:38-11. Sealing of Court Records

(a) Information in a court record may be sealed by court order for good cause as defined in this section. The moving party shall bear the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that good cause exists.

(b) Good cause to seal a record shall exist when:

(1) Disclosure will likely cause a clearly defined and serious injury to any person or entity; and

(2) The persons or entitys interest in privacy substantially outweighs the presumption that all court and administrative records are open for public inspection pursuant to R. 1:38.

(c) The provisions of this rule do not apply to actions required to be sealed pursuant to the New Jersey False Claims Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:32C-5(c)).

(d) Documents or other materials not exempt from public access under Rule 1:38 may not be filed under seal absent a prior court order mandating the sealing of such documents, and should not be submitted to the court with the motion, which may be filed on short notice, requesting an order to seal.