The President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed into law the bill criminalizing disclosure of information and details from closed court hearings by individuals obligated to maintain confidentiality with immediate effect.
The law aims to "ensure the protection of human rights and freedoms, privacy, personal and family secrets, honor, and dignity."
The law has inserted Article 402-1 to the Criminal Procedure Code, which requires participants in the hearing to sign a non-disclosure agreement and to warn them against disclosing information without court’s permission.
The non-disclosure agreement includes a warning about possible liability under Article 239 of the Criminal Code. It is now titled "Disclosure of Information which is part of an Inquiry, Preliminary Investigation, or a Closed Court Hearing."
In particular, disclosure of the above without the permission of an inquiry officer, investigator, or prosecutor, as well as disclosure of information and details of a closed court hearing without the court's permission by a person obligated to maintain confidentiality, is penalized with a fine of up to 50 basic units (20.6 million soums), correctional labor for up to three years, house arrest for one to three years, or imprisonment for up to three years.
According to the Civil Procedure Code, the Economic Procedure Code, and the Code of Administrative Procedure, closed court hearings are allowed if the protection of state secrets, secrets arising from the category of cases, or other legally protected secrets is required.
