In Uzbekistan, the protection of human rights and freedoms has become the main criterion for ensuring the rule of law

In the context of modern globalization, the protection of human and citizen rights and freedoms, as well as their legitimate interests within a country's territory, becomes particularly significant for every nation. Ensuring human rights, social cohesion, and the guarantee of well-being are leading contemporary strategies aligned with the "theory of social contract." In recent years, systematic efforts have been undertaken to strengthen the legislative and organizational-legal framework for human rights protection, integrate international standards into national legislation, and fulfill international obligations.

Human rights can be fully ensured only in a state where the rule of law prevails. Currently, Uzbekistan, alongside other countries worldwide, is working to address existing challenges and is making progress by ensuring human rights based on international standards and criteria.

These tasks are also relevant for Uzbekistan, which boasts a rich history of statehood. In this regard, it is noteworthy that, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan serves as the guarantor of the rights and freedoms of citizens, the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan. This constitutional provision also signifies Uzbekistan's adherence to the theory of the social contract as a state.

In the first part of Article 54, Chapter X, of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted in its new edition, it is established that "ensuring human rights and freedoms is the highest goal of the state." This serves as the legal basis for the above-mentioned principle. 

It is worth noting that significant achievements have been made in recent years in ensuring human rights in our country. In particular, the promotion, protection, and observance of human rights have become one of the priority areas of state policy. The practices of forced and child labor have been eradicated. The judicial and legal system has undergone fundamental reforms, transforming the judiciary into a structure that safeguards the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of citizens. As President Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated: "A judge’s mind must uphold justice, their words must reflect truth, and their heart must embody purity." Based on this principle, criminal penalties have been liberalized, and the longstanding punitive approach of law enforcement and judicial authorities has been abandoned. 

On the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan, a National Strategy on Human Rights was adopted, and Uzbekistan was elected as a member of the UN Human Rights Council. This also reflects the high international recognition of the sound policies implemented in our country. 

In the course of consistent reforms aimed at building a free democratic state and an open civil society, particular attention is being paid to protecting human rights and ensuring the rule of law in society. These efforts have become a key milestone in realizing the noble idea of "For Human Dignity." Undoubtedly, the reforms in the judicial and legal sphere represent one of the significant steps in this direction.

As emphasized by our President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the value of a person is not an abstract or lofty concept for us. By the value of a person, we primarily mean ensuring a peaceful and secure life for every citizen, as well as guaranteeing their fundamental rights and freedoms. 

Speaking about the value of a person, the head of our state noted that this also implies creating decent living conditions and modern infrastructure for every citizen, providing qualified medical services, quality education, a social protection system, and a healthy environmental environment. 

In this sense, the ongoing reforms are based on ensuring human rights and interests, achieving the well-being of the people, and realizing the rights and freedoms of citizens. 

The adoption of the National Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Human Rights by the corresponding Presidential Decree is a vivid testament to the fact that the promotion, protection, and observance of human rights are among the priority directions of state policy in Uzbekistan. 

Most importantly, ensuring that every person living in our country, regardless of nationality, language, or religion, lives freely, peacefully, and prosperously, satisfied with their current life, is gradually becoming the primary goal of the state. The Sustainable Development Goals, planned up to 2030, are being implemented based on the principle of "leaving no one behind," which aims to ensure the rights and legitimate interests of every person in our country. 

As a result, large-scale reforms are radically transforming people's lives, their worldview, and way of life. In society, the great goal of "Creating a New Uzbekistan Together" has become a nationwide movement.

Indeed, the rapid reforms being carried out in our country are aimed at ensuring the lives, honor, dignity, and other inalienable rights of citizens. Today, the international community recognizes Uzbekistan's resolute policy in the field of ensuring human rights and freedoms as one of the key developments taking place in the country. A particularly striking example of the humane policies being implemented is the manifestation of tolerance toward citizens who have consciously or unconsciously committed offenses.

At the same time, as our President noted, the main laws and codes in the judicial and legal sphere were adopted almost 20–25 years ago and no longer meet modern requirements. In this regard, the parliament is tasked with adopting new versions of the Civil, Criminal, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Executive Codes, as well as the Code of Administrative Responsibility, in the coming years. Consequently, the renewal of legislation should not be limited to the adoption of new laws but should be guided by how these laws will bring practical benefits to people and simplify their lives.

It should be noted that within the framework of the Action Strategy, a number of effective measures have been taken to promote the social adaptation and reintegration into society of citizens serving sentences. While the Presidential Decree of November 7, 2018, “On Measures for the Radical Improvement of the System of Criminal and Criminal Procedural Legislation,” initiated new reforms in this regard, the Development Strategy for 2022–2026 also includes important initiatives aimed at enhancing the value of the individual.

In particular, Goal 17 of the strategy, titled "Shaping a new image of law enforcement agencies and orienting their activities toward effectively protecting the interests, honor, dignity, rights, and freedoms of the people," outlines objectives such as transforming law enforcement bodies into a professional public-oriented structure that serves as a reliable protector of the people and focuses on targeted work with the population; creating a solid legal framework for the operation of an open and fair prosecution system that strictly ensures legality, as well as making the principle of "Rule of law — inevitability of punishment" a core criterion; strengthening oversight of operational-search and investigative activities; introducing effective mechanisms for protecting the honor, dignity, and freedoms of citizens; and fundamentally reforming the system for recording crime reports in law enforcement agencies by employing modern methods to prevent the concealment of crimes.

Another important objective of the Development Strategy is the implementation of an effective state policy to combat extremism and terrorism, ensuring the protection of citizens' rights and freedoms.

Due to the fact that the judicial and legal reforms conducted during the past period are based on constitutional principles such as the rule of law, equality of citizens before the law, humanism, justice, and the presumption of innocence, the results of the Action Strategy include the following: probation divisions have taken 61,053 individuals under supervision, 7,839 have been employed, and 9,090 have received job referrals. A total of 25,431 individuals under probation supervision were conditionally released from punishment in accordance with Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and 53,393 individuals under supervision were removed from the registry. Among 4,555 individuals without a specific profession, 3,794 underwent vocational training, and 1,459 were referred for vocational training.

Additionally, for the first time, 709 elderly convicts in correctional facilities began receiving pensions.

It should be noted that the management of cases in criminal courts is also aimed at protecting human interests. The exchange of documents, provision of judgments and other procedural documents to the parties, as well as the scheduling of court sessions, have been transitioned to electronic form. Citizens, using the electronic information system “e-sud.uz”, can remotely obtain information about the date of the court session, the name of the presiding judge, and the courtroom where the session will take place. While remote participation was previously mostly available in economic courts, appellate and cassation instances in civil and even criminal courts now also operate through video conferencing (VC). Undoubtedly, all this contributes to saving citizens’ time and resources. This is certainly an example of respectful attention to and consideration of human rights.

Another important provision related to the guarantees of human rights is the inclusion in the updated Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan of a rule in part seven of Article 28, which states that a person's criminal record and its legal consequences cannot serve as grounds for restricting the rights of their relatives. In the past, due to the actions of a father or a close relative, many educated and promising professionals were unable to secure employment in government bodies or were dismissed from their positions. To eliminate such cases, based on subjective approaches, this provision was introduced. In our view, this is a fair norm aimed at protecting the rights and legitimate interests of individuals.

The Constitutional Court is the highest instance in Uzbekistan for ensuring human and citizen rights. If citizens or legal entities believe that a law violates their constitutional rights and freedoms, does not comply with the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and was applied in a specific case already resolved in court, after all other judicial remedies have been exhausted, they have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court to assess the law's compliance with the Constitution.

Not only citizens but also public authorities and administrative bodies can appeal to the Constitutional Court. This contributes to ensuring the rule of law in protecting human rights and freedoms through this institution.

All these measures vividly demonstrate the results of noble efforts aimed at upholding human dignity.

In short, in Uzbekistan, the protection of human rights and freedoms has already become a fundamental criterion for ensuring the rule of law.

Xurshida Abzalova,

Professor of the department of Criminal Law,
Criminology and Corruption

Doctor of Science