Article 165. Court session

The proceedings on a case shall be carried out at the court session. The session may be carried out in videoconferencing mode.

The first court session on the case must be held no later than twenty days from the date of the ruling on the preparation of the case for court proceedings.

Audio or video recording of the court session may be conducted at the initiative of the court or on the petition of the participants in economic proceedings.

The judge presiding at the session shall:

1) open the court session and declare, what case is subject to consideration;

2) check the appearance at the session of the participants of the economic proceedings, their powers, establish whether the persons who have not appeared at the judicial session have been properly informed, and what information is available on the reasons of their absence;

3) announce the composition of the court, inform who is participating as the public prosecutor, expert, specialist, secretary of the court session, interpreter, and explain to the persons participating in the case their right to declare challenges;

4) remove the witnesses who have appeared out of the hall of the session till their invitation for interrogation;

5) explains to the participants of the court proceedings their procedural rights and procedural duties;

6) warn the interpreter about the responsibility for knowingly wrong translation; the expert — for giving a knowingly false opinion; the witness — for giving knowingly false testimony;

7) define the sequence of examination of evidence;

8) guide the session ensuring the clarification of circumstances important for the case;

9) take measures to ensure the appropriate order at the session.

The participants at the economic proceedings and persons present in the hall of the court session are entitled to make written notes, take down verbatim and audio recording. Photographing, video recording, and also broadcasting of the court session by radio and TV are allowed upon the permission of the court considering the case.

When a ruling is issued to hear a case in a closed court session, the persons participating in the closed court session shall be warned not to disclose information and details of the court proceedings without the permission of the court, and a written acknowledgment shall be obtained from them. The written acknowledgment shall also reflect a warning regarding liability under Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan for violating the said obligation.