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Дата публикации: Dec 13, 2013 4:43:43 PM
Since the first days of its independence, Uzbekistan, at the initiative of
President Islam Karimov, has been consistently carrying out historically significant
reforms to establish an independent judicial branch, democratize and liberalize the
judicial and legal system and enhance the effectiveness and quality of the
administration of justice. They are based on such noble goals as the maintenance of
peace and order in society and the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate
interests of citizens.
Reliable legal guarantees for the democratic reforms in Uzbekistan are
provided for under the Constitution and legislation, which implement the generally
recognized norms and principles of international law. The Republic is a party to
more than 70 human rights instruments and basic United Nations international
agreements in this field and has consistently and resolutely carried out its
international obligations. A national action plan was adopted and is being
successfully implemented in order to carry out the recommendations put forward by
the Human Rights Committee on the universal periodic review.
Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides
that everyone convicted of a crime shall have the right to his conviction and
sentence being reviewed b y a higher tribunal according to law. In Uzbekistan also,
in cases of disagreement with a decision by a court of first instance citizens have the
possibility of defending their rights and interests in court of appeal or cassation with
the participation of a lawyer. The establishment of a new procedure for considering
complaints against decisions by a court of first instance has become a guarantee
ensuring the timely correction of its errors and precluding delays in court activities.
It is indicative that in 2000 almost half of the errors committed by courts were
corrected by verifying the legality of the decisions taken by them. According to the
results of the first nine months of 2013, 89 per cent of such errors were corrected in
the appeal and cassation procedure.
The abolition of the death penalty in Uzbekistan on 1 January 2008 was an act
of exceptional importance in the process of liberalizing the judicial and legal system,
which garnered widespread attention in the world. In taking this decision, the
Republic was of the view that the right to life is inalienable and is protected by the
Constitution.
The introduction of the institution of “habeas corpus”, that is, the transfer as
from 2008 from the prosecutor to the courts of the right to authorize detention as a
preventive measure was also an important step. Time has demonstrated its
timeliness and correctness. The institution serves as an important factor in defending
the constitutional rights and freedoms of the individual and his inviolability.
The institution of reconciliation, which provides for the possible exemption
from liability in connection with the reconciliation of the parties, has been put into
practice. Initially, it was applied in relation to offences linked to infringement of the
inviolability of the individual, public safety and public order. Subsequently, it was extended
also to other offences against the basis of the economy. At the present time,
the institution of reconciliation is applied to more 50 types of offences. Since it has
been in existence, cases against more than 147,000 citizens have been dismissed.
The possibility of imposing punishment in the form of a fine instead of arrest
and imprisonment in cases involving offences in the economic sector has been
significantly expanded. Since the liberalization of punishment, more than 25,000
persons who had provided compensation for material damage were given penalties
that did not involve imprisonment.
The concept of further deepening the democratic reforms and the formation of
civil society in the country, under which the head of State put forward important
legislative initiatives, gave enormous impetus to the reform of the judiciary. Thus, at
the present time in the Republic such measures of procedural coercion as dismissal
from work and the placing of a person in a medical institution can be taken only
with the approval of a judge.
The corresponding amendments and additions were made to articles 321 and
439 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which exclude the right of a court to institute
criminal proceedings and impose the obligation to make public an indictment in a
case in a court of first instance only on the public prosecutor. This was done in order
to bring national legislation into line with the norms of international law and
article 19 or our country’s Constitution. As is well known, under article 10 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair
and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of
his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
An important reform of the criminal law institution of conviction records was
carried out. Article 78 of the Criminal Code provides for general time limits for
expunging a conviction. A conviction is expunged with regard to conditionally
convicted persons upon the expiration of a probationary period, after serving a
sentence in the form of a limitation on service or confinement to disciplinary
barracks; one year after the payment of a fine or after serving a sentence of
deprivation of a certain right or corrective labour; two years after serving a sentence
in the form of detention; four years after serving a sentence of imprisonment for no
longer than five years; seven years after serving a sentence of imprisonment for
more than five years but less than 10 years; 10 years after serving a sentence of
imprisonment for more than 10 years but less than 15 years.
Article 79 of the Code provides that, if after serving a sentence of
imprisonment, the person has not been subject to administrative punishment or
disciplinary pressure, upon a request by a public association, a citizens selfgovernment
body, a collective or the person himself who served the sentence, a
court may expunge his conviction after the expiry of not less than half of the time
limits set forth under article 78.
Article 79 was also supplemented by a section that provides that in the case of
persons convicted of committing a number of offences against the basis of the
economy, violations of the rules on trade or the provision of services, conducting
activities without a license, discrediting a competitor and so forth, in the absence of
sizable damage to the State, the conviction may be expunged by a court after the
expiry of not less than one fourth of the time limits set forth under article 78.
The judicial and legal reforms were further promoted by improvements to the
structures and the organizational basis of the courts and the strengthening of their
human resource capacity. The Presidential Decree of 2 August 2012 on “measures
for fundamentally improving the social protection of employees of the judicial
system” provides for not only a significant increase in the salaries of judges of the
Constitutional Court and the general and economic courts, but also the payment to
them of monthly increments of up to 50 per cent of their salary. Judges are exempt
from the personal income tax on incomes received by them in connection with the
performance of their official duties; and provision is also made for granting them
mortgage loans for acquiring housing under favourable conditions and the payment
of monthly monetary compensation for leasing residential accommodations.
In addition, in implementing the Decree, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted the
programme for establishing contemporary information and communication
technology courts. The programme is designed to increase the level of
computerization and the effective use of computer technology, create information
systems and resources in courts, broaden the sphere for providing interactive
services to entrepreneurial entities and the population and, most importantly,
introduce electronic court proceedings, which are successfully being used in many
countries.
Electronic court proceedings are a modern form of conducting judicial
activities based on the widespread use of information and communications
technology (ICT) in the administration of justice. The advantages lie in improving
the quality of court proceedings, reducing court expenses and providing
conveniences for the parties. In particular, this institution makes it possible to
submit to a court and receive from it various documents in electronic form. It is
possible to follow the course of case on the Internet, participate in judicial hearings
by means of video-conferencing and learn about court decisions online. Introducing
information and communication technology into court proceeding will make it
possible to enhance the effectiveness of record keeping and reduce the use of paper
documents and the time for considering appeals.
We should like to point out that an electronic management system has been set
up within the framework of a pilot project at the base of the Zangiota Interdistrict
Civil Affairs Court in the Tashkent region. It is being conducted by the Supreme
Court together with the United Nations Development Programme office in
Uzbekistan. With its assistance, many services will be provided in an interactive
form. Appeals by citizens will be considered through the Internet as is the case with
sending copies of court decisions and findings to the parties. All of this will
undoubtedly have a positive effect on the administration of justice and the effective
protection of the rights and interests of the individual.
The Presidential Decree of 30 November 2012 on “organizational measures for
further improving the work of the courts” marked an important stage in the judicial
and legal reform process.
It defined the tasks to be undertaken in fundamentally improving the system
for selecting judges, particularly, the mechanism for establishing a reserve cadre.
Candidates for the post of judge must be selected from among well trained and
highly qualified personnel with significant life experience, an impeccable reputation,
sufficient length of specialized service, above all in the law enforcement agencies.
These requirements are also imposed on judges under the world-renowned
Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, according to which competence, diligence,
honesty and integrity are essential conditions for the proper fulfilment by judges of
their duties.
It has been determined that citizens of our country who are no younger that
30 years of age and have an advanced legal education and specialized work
experience of no less than five years may be appointed as judges of interdistrict and
district (municipal) civil and criminal courts and economic courts. Judges are
appointed for a further term or to another judicial post on the basis applications
submitted by them to the Higher Qualifications Committee directly through the
Higher Qualifications Board of General Courts and the Qualifications Board of
Economic Court Judges.
The Decree by the Head of State of 4 October 2013 on “measures to improve
and enhance the effectiveness of the work of general district and municipal courts”
is very important for the further improvement and enhancement of the work of
general courts and for carrying out measures aimed at establishing proper order and
optimizing the workload of the courts. The Decree provides for increasing the
number of civil court justices to 71, redistributing the number of district courts and
courts with equivalent status by transferring 23 judicial posts from courts with a
lighter workload and also making changes to the structure of the Supreme Court.
The judiciary contributes to the building of a democratic, law-based State and
a just civil society, bearing the responsibility for ensuring observance of the
principle of the rule of law and the rights and interests of citizens and for enhancing their legal awareness and legal culture.
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