PRESIDENT APPROVES LEGISLATION AMENDMENTS

Uzbeksitan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed on 29 March the Law ‘On Amendments and Addenda to Some Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan Associated with Additional Measures for Ensuring Human Rights and Freedoms’.

The document was passed by the Legislative Chamber on 17 March and approved by the Senate on 28 March.

The law was prepared under the 21 October Presidential Decree ‘On Further Reforming of Judicial and Legal System and Strengthening Human Rights and Freedoms’.

The law is set to democratise and liberalise judicial and legal system, improve law enforcement, promote the justice system, and ensure the rule of law.

The law amended the Criminal, Criminal Procedural, Civil Procedural, and Penal Codes, as well as the Laws ‘On Courts’ and ‘On Prosecution Office’.

The changes repealed arrests and introduced a more lenient penalty of community services. Suspects will now be detained for up to 48 hours, as opposed to previous 72 hours. The accused will be placed in custody or under house arrest for 7 months, instead of 12 months.

The law broadens the scope of habeas corpus, a legal doctrine, and tightens judicial control in criminal law.

Under the law, courts are now at the liberty to choose alternative sentences.

Rulings on civil cases can now be reviewed within one year, instead of three years.

The law also introduced organisational changes for criminal and civil cases.

The Supreme Court’s Plenum and Presidium no more overlap each other.

The law will enter into force on 1 April 2017.

UzReport