Law on strengthening liability for corruption crimes adopted 

The regular meeting of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis, which began its work on December 3, is broadcast live for the first time. During it, deputies considered in the first reading and unanimously adopted the draft law “On amendments and additions to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, aimed at ensuring the inevitability of liability for corruption crimes”. 

It is reported that the document supplements the eighth chapter of the Criminal Code with a new term “corruption crimes”. In order to further tighten the punishment for corruption, crimes reflected in Articles 167 and 168 of the Criminal Code, when committed, involving abuse of office, will be punished with imprisonment for up to 10 years.

In addition, a number of amendments and additions are being made to ensure the inevitability of liability for crimes related to corruption, in order to limit the application of mitigating norms by those who have committed such crimes.

In particular, Articles 73 and 74 of the Criminal Code will apply to persons convicted of embezzlement, fraud, tax evasion or other mandatory payments. For persons who have not fully compensated for the damage caused by the crime, as well as committed crimes related to bribery, parole and replacement with a lighter punishment are not provided.

If the draft law prepared by the Anti-Corruption Agency comes into force, the terms of imprisonment for receiving and giving a bribe, as well as for mediation in giving a bribe, will be increased from 15 to 20 years. The bribe takers will not be released on parole, and their punishment will not be replaced by a softer one.