On February 25, the MPs passed the bill adopting criminal liability for breaching confidentiality of closed proceedings. The Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court/Chairman of the Judicial Collegium for Economic Cases, Shukhrat Polvanov said that the bill had been developed "due to problems in current judicial practice" based on a letter from the Presidential Administration dated September 23, 2024.
According to him, thanks to the judicial reforms in recent years, it has been possible to ensure the transparency of the judiciary. In particular, citizen participation in court proceedings has been ensured, and court decisions are published online.
"Despite all the created facilities, there are many cases nowadays when closed court attendees disclose information about the trial without judge's authorization," he said.
According to Article 19 of the Criminal Procedure Code, some cases may be heard behind closed doors. Courts are entitled to allow close relatives of defendant and victim, as well as other persons, to be present during closed sessions, warning them of criminal liability for disclosing information about the circumstances in these sessions.
There is no provision regulating liability for disclosing such information. Only Article 239 of the Criminal Code provides for a fine of up to 50 basic calculation units (18.75 million soums) or correctional labor for up to 3 years or house arrest from 1 year to 3 years or imprisonment for up to 3 years for disclosing information about the circumstances being examined in these sessions.
According to the resolution of the plenum of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan dated February 21, 2020, rights abuse by persons present at a court hearing is a violation of order in a court hearing.
In this case, the court has the right to apply measures of influence to the guilty parties provided for by the procedural law. However, according to the deputy head of the Supreme Court, Article 271 of the Criminal Procedure Code (liability for violation of procedural duties), as well as articles related to violation of order at a hearing, do not define the rules under which disclosure of information without the court's permission entails liability.
According to the Civil Procedure Code, the Economic Procedure Code and the Administrative Procedure Code, it is permissible to consider a case in a closed court session if it is necessary to protect state secrets, secrets arising from the category of cases and other secrets protected by law.
According to Polvanov, these codes do not define obligations not to disclose the circumstances of the case discussed in a closed court.
He added that the bill proposed to define such an obligation and introduce criminal liability for its violation.
Shukhrat Polvanov stated that the adoption of the bill would lead to the prevention of disclosure of information about the personal lives of participants in the proceedings, strengthening guarantees for the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, as well as improving Uzbekistan's indicators in the Rule of Law Index.
