Azerbaijan

Code of Criminal Procedure of the Azerbaijan Republic

General Part

SECTION SIX
CONFIDENTIALITY AND TIME LIMITS DURING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Chapter XXIII
THE PRESERVATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY DURING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Article 200. The preservation of state secrets

200.1. During criminal proceedings, measures shall be taken under this Code and other laws of the Azerbaijan Republic in order to protect information constituting state secrets.

200.2. If the prosecuting authority proposes to any person that he give or submit information which comprises state secrets in pursuance of the relevant court decision, this person shall be entitled to refuse to divulge it unless he is sure of the need to collect this information for the purposes of the ongoing criminal case. If the prosecuting authority requests the person to give or submit information which contains state secrets on the grounds that it is essential, the authority shall include observations confirming the need for this information in the record of the interview or other investigative procedure.

200.3. If the prosecuting authority does not note that this is prohibited in the record of the interview or other investigative procedure, the state employee concerned shall immediately inform the head of the relevant state body in writing about his testimony concerning the information entrusted to him which constitutes a state secret.

200.4. The conduct of criminal cases connected with information comprising state secrets shall be placed in the hands of investigators, prosecutors or judges who have given written undertakings not to divulge this type of information. Undertakings not to divulge information constituting state secrets shall be given before the start of the court’s consideration of a criminal case involving such information, an obligation also extending to jurors. Any juror who refuses to give such an undertaking shall be released from participation in the court’s consideration of the criminal case. Evidence which reveals state secrets shall be examined by the court in camera.

200.5. Anyone else who submits or otherwise indicates that he wishes to acquaint himself with information which constitutes a state secret for the purposes of the criminal case, shall give an undertaking in advance not to disseminate this information. If the defence counsel and the other representative, with the exception of the legal representative, refuses to give this undertaking, he shall be deprived of the right to participate in the criminal proceedings, and the remaining persons shall not be given the information constituting a state secret. The obligation not to disseminate state secrets shall not prevent a party to the criminal proceedings from requesting that the information constituting a state secret be examined by the court in camera.

Keywords

Protection of national security
Confidentiality re national security



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