Status of lawyers to be further strengthened 

On February 8, a roundtable was held at the Development Strategy Center to radically increase the effectiveness of the institution of the advocacy and expand the independence of lawyers, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.

The discussion was attended by deputies of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, representatives of the Supreme Court, General Prosecutor's Office, Chamber of Lawyers, experts of the international non-governmental legal organization “Regional dialogue” (Slovenia) and lawyers.

“The roundtable was organized to constructively discuss ongoing reforms in the country to raise the status and expand the procedural powers of lawyers, to ensure their immunity, as well as further tasks and prospects in this area,” the General Prosecutor's Office said.

Participants of the event noted that the information released by the Chamber of Lawyers on the results of an anonymous survey conducted among lawyers is a significant signal for critical analysis of the current state of law enforcement practice.

During the roundtable, prospects for development of criminal and criminal-procedural legislation were considered. In this regard, proposals on further strengthening the procedural status of lawyers were discussed as part of the new edition of the Criminal Procedural Code of Uzbekistan.

Following the discussion, the parties summarized the need for constructive interaction between courts, prosecuting authorities and lawyers to effectively ensure the ongoing transformations in this area and create real conditions for raising the status of lawyers in the society.

It should be recalled that on January 28 of this year, results of an anonymous survey on encroachments and illegal actions against lawyers were published on the official website of the Chamber of Lawyers of Uzbekistan. The document contained analytical information about systemic violations by the prosecuting, investigating bodies and courts of the rights of lawyers in the course of their professional activities.

According to the results of the anonymous survey, a number of cases of insulting and other degrading lawyer’s dignity by investigative authorities amounted to 209. Additionally, in accordance with results of the anonymous survey, 208 death threat cases were reported, 597 lawyers indicated the absence of separate rooms for meetings of lawyers with their clients.