Uzbekistan creates corruption registry, bars convicted officials from public office

Under the new law, the registry includes individuals convicted of embezzlement or misappropriation through abuse of office, fraud committed using an official position, commercial bribery, and bribery involving employees of non-governmental or commercial organizations. It also encompasses the abuse of power or exceeding official authority for personal gain, official inaction driven by self-interest, forgery, and the direct acts of taking, giving, or mediating bribes. Illegal material enrichment by public servants and the manipulation of sports competitions through bribery are similarly covered. Additionally, money laundering is classified as a corruption offense if the underlying assets were generated through any of these specified crimes.

The law imposes sweeping structural restrictions on individuals placed in the database. During the entire period their criminal record remains active, registered individuals are prohibited from entering public service, receiving state awards, or being nominated for elective or specially appointed offices. They are barred from serving on public councils or interdepartmental collegial bodies attached to government agencies. Furthermore, they cannot hold leadership roles in educational institutions or organizations where the state holds a stake exceeding 50 percent. Their entrepreneurial entities, specifically companies in which they hold a founding share or a charter capital stake greater than 50 percent, are also blocked from participating in public procurement and public–private partnership agreements.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is required to input a convicted individual's data into the electronic platform within three working days after a court verdict or ruling becomes legally binding. The database will be managed jointly by the Anti–Corruption Agency and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Whether the registry will be fully accessible to the general public remains unclarified in the text of the law itself. While a 2021 presidential decree originally stipulated that the database should be transparent and open, the new legislation leaves the specific procedures for accessing data and the grounds for removing individuals from the system to be determined by subsequent regulatory acts, which may be issued via presidential or governmental decisions.

The passage of this law concludes a five-year legislative process, following a presidential decree issued on July 6, 2021, that first mandated the creation of a corruption database. The necessity of the measure is underscored by domestic personnel statistics; in 2023 alone, 566 individuals previously convicted of corruption offenses in Uzbekistan managed to re-enter public service, where they subsequently committed further corruption–related crimes.

According to Article 78 of the Criminal Code, the duration an individual remains in the registry corresponds directly to the legal lifespan of their criminal record. For those given probation, the record clears when the probationary period ends. For individuals sentenced to compulsory community service, restriction of service, or assignment to a disciplinary unit, it clears immediately upon completing the punishment. A one–year period is required after fines are paid or after terms of correctional labor or specific disqualifications are served. The timeline extends to two years following the completion of a restriction of liberty sentence. For prison sentences of five years or less, the record remains for four years after release; for sentences between five and 10 years, it remains for seven years; and for prison terms between 10 and 15 years, it lasts for 10 years. However, if an individual maintains clean conduct without administrative or disciplinary penalties after prison, a court may expunge the criminal record after at least half of the designated statutory period has elapsed.