A woman in Kazakhstan convicted of using a forged sick note tried to challenge the actions of law enforcement officers and took her case all the way to the Constitutional Court, the website infohub.kz reports.
The convicted woman said police officers seized her sick note in violation of procedure — without a special authorization (sanction) from an investigative judge. In her view, medical documents contain medical confidentiality, which means they cannot be seized without a judge's approval, and such a document cannot be used as evidence.
"The wording 'other secrets protected by law' is too vague. Because of this, it is unclear when law enforcement officers are required to obtain a judge's permission to seize documents and when they are not," the woman complained.
The Constitutional Court recalled that personal and medical confidentiality are indeed strictly protected by law. However, there is no universal rule covering absolutely all certificates.
"The question of whether a specific document contains a secret protected by law and whether the sanction of an investigative judge was required for its seizure is linked to the assessment of the circumstances of a specific criminal case and falls within the competence of the court hearing the case," the Constitutional Court concluded.
Thus, the ruling of the ordinary court remained in force: local judges decide in each specific case whether the sick note constituted a secret and whether police officers violated the law when seizing it.