An Important and Timely Document

Parliament members have reviewed a number of new draft laws at the session of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis.

The draft Law “On counteraction to corruption” submitted to the lower chamber of parliament by the acting President of Uzbekistan Shafkat Mirziyoyev was discussed in its first reading.

It was specifically underlined in the course of discussion that the draft law is an important and timely document and is spearheaded towards comprehensive legislative regulation of legal relationships in the field of counteracting corruption, raising the efficiency of anti-corruption measures carried out by the government agencies and the civil society organizations and institutions, as well as complete elimination of this phenomenon in all spheres of public life.  

Representatives of all parties’ factions and deputy group of the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan expressed their views on this topic.

Members of the UzLiDeP faction had specifically stressed that the adoption of the law would create additional legal guarantees for protection of the citizens’ rights and freedoms, would promote protection from the encroachments on private property rights, undue interference into the activities of businesses and, as a consequence, would impact the growth of entrepreneurial activity and the country’s investment attractiveness.

Deputies from the “Milliy tiklanish” DPU noted the urgency of the draft law and its socio-economic significance. It fixes the founding principles and the guidelines of the state policy on opposing corruption, the system of authorized agencies and it envisages the participation of the citizens’ bodies of self-government, the civil society institutions, mass media as well as citizens in the struggle against corruption.  

Members of the NDPU faction, having supported the document under review, noted that the creation of the Republican inter-departmental commission on counteracting corruption with inclusion into its composition representatives of public association of entrepreneurs and such other civil society institutions is directed towards securing coordinated activity and consolidation of interaction in counteracting corruption.

Parliamentarians from the “Adolat” SDPU, having supported this legal act, drew the attention of their colleagues to the manifestation of corruption in the sphere of administrative activities, which is one of the factors capable to interfere with the rights of citizens. The submission of this draft law into the Legislative Chamber in this connection proves the concrete nature of undertaken measures from the side of the state in the field of counteracting corruption. Its implementation will facilitate further observation of the norms of international law and will raise our county’s authority on the international arena.

The deputies also reviewed in the first reading the draft Law “On the procedure of serving the administrative detention”. It provides for the legal status of special detention stations for keeping in custody the persons subjected to administrative arrest, the order of their reception, detention and release, their rights and duties, and application of disciplinary measures.

The passage of this law will promote the consolidation of guarantees for protecting the rights and freedoms of arrested persons, securing a uniform practice of serving the administrative detention and increasing the efficiency of activities of the internal affairs agencies and responsibility of their staff members.

As a result of discussions the deputies approved of the draft laws and passed them in the first reading. Relevant committees were assigned the task of prepariing documents for their second reading with consideration of submitted proposals.