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16DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.24412/2181-2535-2020-3-22-25
Strategy of Uzbekistan №03 (2020) / ISSN 2181-2535
JUDICIAL AND LEGAL REFORMS
Journal home page: https://journal.strategy.uz
JUDICIAL AND LEGAL REFORMS IN UZBEKISTAN: ACHIEVEMENTS AND FURTHER CHALLENGES
One of the priority directions of the Action Strategy in the five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021 is to ensure the rule of l aw and further reform of the judicial and legal system, which is aimed at ensuring the true independence of the judiciary, guaranteeing reliable protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, strengthening the rule of law and order in judicial and legal system.
In 2017-2019 and over the past period of 2020, the relevant state programs on realization of the Action Strategy have implemented more than 120 major activities. The ongoing judicial and legal reforms are based on such constitutional principles as the rule of law, priority of human rights and freedoms, equality of citizens before the law, humanism, justice and the presumption of innocence. Thus, large-scale measures have been implemented to ensure the true independence of the
Nilufar Nodirkhonova Head of Direction «Development Strategy» Center
judiciary, i ncrease the authority further democratization of the of the court, democratize and order of its formation;
improve the judicial system.
establishment of
an
In our opinion, the following indefinite period of tenure of
innovations can be attributed judges in accordance with
to the conceptual changes the Law of the Republic of in the judicial system of our Uzbekistan dated April 12,
country:
the creation
of the
2017;
unification of the Supreme
Supreme Judicial Council of Court and the Supreme
the Republic of Uzbekistan, Economic Court of the
which constitutes a body Republic of Uzbekistan into
of the judicial community a single supreme body of
and provides assistance in judicial power in the field of
ensuring compliance with civil, criminal, administrative
the constitutional principle and economic proceedings of independence of the judiciary;
strengthening the
- the
Republic of Uzbekistan; formation of the
foundations of constitutional Department for provision of
justice,
in
particular, the activities of the courts at
introduction of amendments the Supreme Court, which
and additions to Articles 108 is entrusted with the tasks of
and 109 of the Constitution material, technical and social
of the Republic of Uzbekistan, support of courts, judges
as well as adoption of the and court workers, as well
Constitutional Law «On the as improving their working
Constitutional Court of the conditions and financial
Republic of Uzbekistan», stimulation, which were
which increased the efficiency previously carried out by the
and authority, strengthened justice bodies;
the independence of the implementation
of
Constitutional Court by comprehensive measures to expanding its powers and increase the openness and
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transparency of the activities of the judiciary, establish an open dialogue with the population and strengthen the role of the public In the administration of justice - in, accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated
3,
2018;
taking measures to digitize the judicial system and Introducing a system of remote access to courts, participation in court sessions using a video conferencing system, automatic
distribution of cases between judges, publication of court decisions on the Internet, and submission of writs of execution in electronic form.
The adoption of the Presidential Decree of July 24, 2020 «On additional measures to further improve the activities of the courts and increase the efficiency of justice» became the newest stage in the advancement of judicial and legal reforms in the country. The Decree provided specific instructions to review and optimize the judicial system, abandon the practice of consideration of cases in a supervisory manner, to improve the system of investigation and the institution of the legal profession.
According to the Decree, from January 1, 2021, provision is made for:
the formation of courts of general jurisdiction of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and the city of Tashkent on the basis of regional and equivalent courts for civil cases, criminal cases and economic courts, while maintaining the strict specialization of judges, and the formation of separate judicial chambers for types of proceedings;
transfer of powers of administrative courts to consider cases of administrative offenses to criminal courts;
formation of inter-district administrative courts in the
centers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and regions, the city of Tashkent, specializing in consideration of cases arising from administrative and other public-law relations, with abolition in this regard of district (city) administrative courts and preservation of the administrative courts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and the city Tashkent;
granting the right to appeal to the Supreme Judicial Council decisions of the Supreme Qualification Collegium of Judges of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the qualification collegiums of judges of the courts of the Republic of
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Karakalpakstan, regions and the city of Tashkent;
abolition of the institution of considering judicial cases in exercise of supervisory powers, abolition of the right of the chairman of the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Uzbekistan and their deputies to lodge a protest in the exercise of supervisory powers over decisions, sentences, rulings and court orders;
the introduction of a preliminary hearing stage, which provides the possibility of promptly identifying and eliminating factors that i impede the consideration of a criminal case on a general basis, determining the procedure for making decisions in a
case with the participation of the parties and observing the adversarial principle at the stage of assigning a case to court;
reclaiming from the court and examination by prosecutor the case in which the verdict, decision, writ or ruling of court entered into legal force, only if there is a request from the parties in this case;
exclusion of participation of prosecutor, on his own initiative, in consideration of civil and economic cases in courts initiated by other persons, with the exception of cases provided for by law.
It should be noted that the main purpose of the unification of civil, criminal and economic courts is precisely
the unification of judicial practice of the three different branches of judiciary. Also, one of the tasks of such an association was to ensure uniform judicial practice and refusal to duplicate management functions, increase the level of work of courts of general jurisdiction. In addition, such a merger of courts in one building will save money and time of persons who apply to the courts with different issues, eliminate the red tape of citizens' appeals on controversial issues, since the ownership of the submitted appeal will be decided in one court.
In addition, it is important to note that the system of effective administrative justice is being improved taking into account the best foreign experience and international standards. In particular, this concerns the transfer of the powers of administrative courts to consider cases of administrative offenses to criminal courts. The decree stipulates that 199 district (city) administrative courts will be optimized, and 14 interdistrict administrative courts will be created in the regional centers.
The abolition of the institution of reviewing court cases in the exercise of supervisory powers, as well
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DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.24412/2181-2535-2020-3-22-25 Journal home page: https://journal.strategy.uz
Strategy of Uzbekistan №03 (2020) / ISSN 2181-2535
as the abolition of the right of the chairman of the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Uzbekistan and their deputies to lodge a protest against judicial decisions in the exercise of supervisory powers is introduced taking into account the experience of foreign countries to simplify the consideration of cases in courts. The practice of considering cases in two instances of the same court (first, appeal or cassation instance) is eliminated. In addition, a separate composition is created to consider investment disputes and competition cases within the structure of the Supreme Court, which will ensure reliable judicial protection of investors' rights. The introduction of the institution of preliminary hearing in criminal courts is aimed at further strengthening the guarantees of human rights when considering cases in court. It is also important to improve the procedural order for participation of prosecutor in legal proceedings, which is designed to ensure the adversarial principle of in the judicial process.
The measures taken to reform the judicial and legal system are already yielding
concrete results. Thanks to these measures, about 2,3 thousand unjustly accused persons were acquitted, in relation to more than 3,5 thousand young people and women who by mistake entered the path of crime, who could be sentenced to imprisonment, on the basis of the guarantee of the mahalla and the public were appointed softer punishments. 60 law enforcement officers who grossly violated human rights were brought to criminal responsibility. The UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Diego Garcia-Sayan, also acknowledged positive changes in this area.
In turn, it should be noted that there is still a lot of work to be done in the direction of reforming the judicial and legal sphere. In particular, the data available for September 30, 2020 indicate that of the 22 measures envisaged in the framework of the State Program for the implementation of the Strategy of Actions in five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017 - 2021 in the «Year of Development of Science, Education and the Digital Economy», 10 were implemented. In particular, 5
of them were implemented on time, and 5 measures were implemented behind schedule. 12 measures are still in progress. In this regard, it seems appropriate to speed up work on the relevant items of the second priority area of the State Program
In conclusion, it is worth pointing out that the measures implemented in pursuance of the second priority area of the Action Strategy are becoming a driver of success for other areas of transformation. Without ensuring the rule of law, proper work of law enforcement authorities, ensuring the population's trust in judicial system and the letter of law, it is impossible to talk about successful reform of the state and society, liberalization of the economy and attracting investments, development of the social sphere, as well as ensuring security and interethnic concord.
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