The law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On State Secrets," adopted on May 7, 1993, is being updated for the first time in almost 30 years.
The updated draft law was unanimously approved by the senators at the forty-ninth plenary session of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis today, on October 23.
Tolibjon Madumarov, Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defense and Security Issues:
The procedure for acquaintance with state secrets and the permission for it, the categories of information not to be classified, and the system of mutual exchange of state secrets between states are not regulated by the current law, which is contrary to today's demands for transparency and information exchange in the country.
Information about state secrets is divided into 4 categories:
In the military field,
In the field of foreign policy and foreign economic affairs,
Intelligence and counter-intelligence, operative search activity, and other directions of state security,
A limited list related to the economy, education, and technical fields is being approved.
In practice, this list was approved by the government decision in 1994 in a directive with a classified designation. The disclosure of this list by law is consistent with today's policy of transparency.
A list of information that will not be classified and establishing liability for making unfounded decisions to classify information, as well as prohibiting the inclusion of information that poses a threat to the personal security of citizens into state secrets, is being clearly defined.
