Procedures for confidential public records to be approved

A draft decree of the Cabinet of Ministers “On the approval of the instructions on the procedure for confidential record-keeping in state bodies” has been published on the portal regulation.gov.uz. The project was initiated by State Inspection for Control in the field of information and telecommunications.

The Chancellery is now responsible for the confidential record-keeping in State bodies (control of registration, reproduction, storage and use of documents, folders and publications classified as “Confidential”).
  
The Chancellery provides organizational and methodological guidance in the handling of the documents, as well as monitoring the execution of confidential documents in the constituent units of state bodies and departmental organizations.

An employee who is allowed to work with confidential documents must sign a supplementary agreement on the non-disclosure of confidential information and commercial secrets in accordance with the Law “On Commercial Secrets”.

Prior to working with confidential documents, the employee must familiarize himself with the Instruction, a list of information classified as confidential information and other regulations on working with confidential information, and sign the appropriate registration forms.

The decision on the classification of the document as confidential and putting “Confidential” sign on it is made based “on the list of information considered as confidential” by:

- The executor during the preparation of the draft document;
- The head of a state body or its constituent unit while signing a document.

The heads and authorized employees of state bodies may remove the “Confidential” sign (with written notification), if documents and information prepared by the mentioned state body, as well as those received from their constituent units and departmental organizations, do not coincide with the information specified in the “The list of information considered as confidential”, or in case of changes in information, loss of its confidentiality and importance.

The heads and authorized employees of state bodies are personally responsible for the justification of classifying the signed documents and publications as “Confidential”, as well as for declassifying them.

The processing of confidential documents should only be carried out using certified electronic document circulation systems.

The drafting and presentation of confidential documents shall be done in accordance with the general rules, with the exception of the properties specified in the Instruction.

Heads of state bodies, employees of the Chancellery and employees authorized to work with confidential information are obliged to take all measures to preserve confidentiality of the documents, prevent their disclosure, damage and theft.

The heads of state bodies can allow confidential documents to be handled only by employee who are related to the process of dealing with those documents. The authorization for the use of such documents is a hand-written resolution by the head of a state body or its constituent unit.

Authorization to work with confidential documents may be suspended by a decision of the head of a state body if the employee does not fulfill the requirements for the protection of confidential information properly, and may be put in the relevant registration forms.

The office premises for processing, registration, copying (reproduction) and recording, storage and destruction of confidential documents must prevent the uncontrolled entry of unauthorized individuals and guarantee the storage of documents. The entrance doors must have locks to ensure security. Such rooms are equipped with a security alarm connected to the central control post.