After the commission institutes formal proceedings and schedules a public hearing, the commission and the judge shall be entitled to conduct discovery in the same manner as litigants in civil cases in the superior court, and the superior court rules of civil procedure shall govern all such discovery. Except as provided in § 8-16-13, all discovery proceedings and all materials obtained by either side through discovery shall be kept confidential. Any disputes concerning discovery shall be heard on motion before the presiding justice of the superior court; provided, however, that if the presiding justice is the subject of the commission proceeding in question, then such motions shall be heard before the senior associate justice of the superior court. All papers filed with and proceedings before the superior court pursuant to this section shall be confidential.