MOSCOW, March 15 (RAPSI) – The State Duma has passed in the third and final reading a bill clarifying the procedure for broadcasting court proceedings and publication of judicial rulings online, according to the database of parliament’s lower house.

The bill introduces amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, procedural codes and the Federal Law on the Provisions of Access to Information related to Activities of Courts in Russian Federation.  In particular, authors of the bill propose to make changes aimed at establishing a singular procedure for placing all judicial acts on the Internet.

The type of broadcast is to be decided by a court, taking into account compliance with the interests of justice, and security of hearings’ participants. It should also prevent the disclosure of classified information, constituting state or other secrets protected by Russian legislation.

According to the bill, closed hearings are not broadcasted on the Internet. The same restrictions are proposed to be extended on the hearings that are related to cases, information on which can’t be put on the official websites of the courts. Broadcast must not disrupt order in the courtroom. Media or website, which are broadcasting court proceedings are to be listed in a court’s transcript. It is noted that opinions of the proceedings’ participants may be taken into account and that broadcast may be organized only if the court is in possession of necessary equipment.

Organizational matters of broadcast on the Internet are to be established by the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court’s Judicial Department.

The bill also introduces regulations on publication of judicial documents. Judicial rulings, excluding sentences and rulings made by commercial courts, are to be published online within a reasonable amount of time, no longer than month after they are issued. Sentences delivered by courts are to be published no longer than a month after they come into force. Rulings of the commercial courts are to be published online no longer than a day after they are issued.