Uzbekistan – annual report 2020

Details
Published: September 8, 2021
The Head of the Anti-Corruption Coordination Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan and moderator of the event Latif Zhalov (centre) presents the certificates of participation at the end of the hybrid seminar
The Head of the Anti-Corruption Coordination Department of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan and moderator of the event Latif Zhalov (centre) presents the certificates of participation at the end of the hybrid seminar

Strategic Framework 

Legal Policy Starting Point 

Uzbek President Mirziyoyev has maintained his course of openness, modernisation and liberalisation since taking office in 2016, allowing the country to emerge from its prolonged period of isolation. The organisation of what the president called “the first free parliamentary elections” in late 2019 was welcomed around the world. International observers confirmed greater openness among the Uzbek authorities and improved access to documentation of the electoral processes. Members of the newly elected parliament subsequently became more self-confident, adopting a critical stance toward government institutions and addressing regulations for a nuanced right to ask questions of the government.

The transformation process is mainly intended to enable transition to a digital economy, improvement of the social system and expansion of the education sector, accompanied by a large-scale digitisation campaign. Fittingly, 2020 was declared the “Year of Development of Science, Education and the Digital Economy”. As accompanying measures, reforms in the judiciary and the amendment of the legal system are being pursued, with increased importance assigned to measures combating corruption. Aside from the recent anti-corruption law, government programmes have been developed and comprehensive measures to prevent corruption are being implemented, among them a compliance system in the public sector and a roadmap to curb the shadow economy. With the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Agency in June 2020, a specially authorised body was created to advance the strategy for preventing and combating corruption through systematic root cause analysis. This institution reports to the president and is accountable to the parliament.

The sweeping reforms pose major challenges to all agencies of state authority. This is because the control mechanisms instilled in the past are still applied and frequently lead to an overreach of power. On a positive note, these issues have provoked a public discussion, also in parliament, and measures to prevent this kind of overreach have since been taken.

Uzbekistan was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the government established a very large anti-crisis fund to deal with the social and economic repercussions.

As a member of the UN Human Rights Council from 2021 to 2023, Uzbekistan will continue its efforts to be perceived as a state operating according to democratic principles.

Overall Concept

Cooperation with the various IRZ partners was impeded by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating a degree of adjustment both in regard to the scope and the format of planning activities. As a result, the advice of the General Prosecutor’s Office on criminal law has continued, and cooperation with the Legislation Institute at the Parliament was widened to include new topics.

In the context of criminal law reform, IRZ assisted in drawing a doctrinal line between criminal law and the law of regulatory offences and related administrative and judicial proceedings. Advice was also given on the decriminalisation of certain offences, the criminal liability of legal persons and sanctions under economic criminal law, as well as the introduction of IT-supported procedures (e.g. e-file).

Regrettably, cooperation with the Supreme Court on implementing the Administrative Procedure Code and application of the Administrative Procedure Act had to be postponed to the coming year.

Focus of Activity in 2020

Public Law 

  • Online exchange of experience on parliamentary controls with the Legislation Institute at the Parliament in Tashkent

Criminal and Penitentiary Law

  • Online seminar “Current reforms in criminal law, criminal procedure law and regulatory offence law” with the Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tashkent
  • Online workshop “Prevention of and fight against corruption” with the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan
  • Online workshop “Asset recovery” with the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Outlook

The reorientation initiated in 2016 is a long-term process and will continue to require advice on various legal areas in the future. IRZ will continue its cooperation in the field of public law and substantive and procedural criminal law. Moreover, there are tentative plans for a contribution to optimising basic and further legal training as one of several large-scale government initiatives.