Courts in Uzbekistan can now suspend passports

In accordance with the law signed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a rule on the suspension of passport has been introduced into the Criminal Procedure Code of Uzbekistan.

Now, if a defendant or accused person, who is on the wanted list, intends to go abroad with a cogent reason, he will be allowed to travel using his national ID, which is passport. If needed, this passport can be suspended by court in a prescribed manner.

Suspension of a passport is carried out in order to prevent evasion of the accused, the defendant from inquiry, preliminary investigation and trial, to suppress his further criminal activity, to ensure the execution of the sentence.

Passport suspension refers to the temporary suspension of a passport, biometric passport, international passport for traveling abroad and travel document of a stateless person.

At the same time, this procedure applies only to the accused or defendant that is put on an interstate or international wanted list. Besides, it does not entail termination of citizenship of Uzbekistan or abolition of the legal status of a stateless person.