b'267.2Request for adjournment or postponement of a hearingParties may request in writing that the Tribunal postpone a hearing for exceptional reasons.7 The Tribunal has the authority to postpone a hearing to a later date or adjourn it.Any request for postponement or adjournment by you or the agency must be made at least eight (8) days prior to the date of the hearing, as set forth in the Tribunal Rules.The Tribunal may render a decision on the request for review despite the absence of one of the parties from the hearing.For more information, please refer to Practice Note #15 on requesting an adjournmentor postponement of a hearing.7.3Open court principle and respect for privacy The general principle is that any hearing before the Tribunal is public. The same appliesto the decisions rendered, in both official languages.A party may, however, seek an exception to this principle by requesting that the proceeding be conducted in private under subsection 19(2) of the Tribunal Rules.For more information, please see Practice Note #8 on the open court principleand privacy concerns.7.4Order for exclusion of witnesses A party may ask the Tribunal to exclude witnesses from the hearing room during testimony under section 24 of the Tribunal Rules. The purpose of this procedureis to ensure that witnesses testimony is not influenced by that of others.The Tribunal may also make such an order without a request from the parties in orderto ensure an equitable, impartial and fair hearing process. For more information, please refer to Practice Note #10 on orders to exclude witnesses.7For instance, a car accident, an unscheduled surgery, a death in the family, etc.'