The Bar in Uzbekistan is becoming the most important institution in the legal system

In the Republic of Uzbekistan, large-scale reforms have been carried out in recent years to increase the role and importance of the legal profession as one of the effective institutions for ensuring the protection of human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests. In particular, measures have been taken aimed at ensuring the independence of the institution of the legal profession and lawyers, organizing work based on the principle of adversarial parties at all stages of legal proceedings, and creating the necessary legislative framework for lawyers to carry out their professional activities.

At the referendum of the Republic of Uzbekistan, held on April 30, 2023, it was determined that the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the new the version adopted by popular vote has supreme legal force, direct effect throughout the country and forms the basis of a single legal space. At the same time, the allocation in the Constitution of a separate chapter to the institution of the legal profession indicates its importance within the framework of ongoing reforms in the judicial and legal sphere. Chapter XXIV of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which includes Articles 141-142, defines the main provisions relating to the institution of the legal profession. In particular, the provision of qualified legal assistance to individuals and legal entities, the principles of the legal profession, guarantees of legal practice and social protection of lawyers are enshrined at the constitutional level.

In our country, large-scale work has been carried out to further liberalize the judicial and legal system, implement the constitutional norm that enshrines the right of citizens to receive qualified legal assistance at any stage of investigation and legal proceedings, ensure the organizational independence of the legal profession, and staff it highly qualified personnel, strengthening guarantees of the independence of lawyers, increasing the authority and prestige of the legal profession. In particular, important changes in this institution are directly related to the adoption of regulations that determined the basic rules relating to the legal profession. Today in our country there are the following laws relating to the institution of the legal profession. These include the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of December 27, 1996 “On the Bar” and the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan of December 25, 1998 “On guarantees of advocacy and social protection of lawyers.”

The adoption of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated May 12, 2018 “On measures to radically increase the efficiency of the institution of the legal profession and expand the independence of lawyers” was also important. In particular, the lawyer received the right to pre-trial resolution of disputes, take measures to reconcile the parties, as well as carry out activities as an arbitrator, the period for completing a mandatory internship in a lawyer's formation to obtain a license to practice law was reduced from six months to three, while it was noted that employees of the legal service of state bodies and organizations, as well as persons who have worked as a judge, investigator or prosecutor for at least three years, are exempt from mandatory internship, the period of failure by a lawyer to perform his professional duties without valid excuse reasons, which is the basis for termination of the lawyer's license, was extended from three to six months, it was established that the termination of the lawyer's license is carried out only by the court at the request of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan and on the basis of the conclusion of the High Qualification Commission, the period for retaking the qualification exam for obtaining the status of a lawyer was reduced from one year to six months.

The specified changes and additions made to the legislation on the national legal profession created the basis for increasing people's confidence in the institution of the legal profession, further strengthening the status of a lawyer, expanding the powers of lawyers in carrying out professional activities, as well as providing qualified legal assistance to individuals and legal entities. One of the positive aspects is that in our country there are positive changes in legal proceedings with the participation of lawyers.

At a video conference meeting dedicated to discussing the tasks of ensuring justice and combating corruption, chaired by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, it was noted: “The Bar is an integral part of justice, the role of this institution in establishing justice is invaluable.” This also indicates the strong attention paid to the institution of the legal profession.

It should be especially noted the important change associated with the law bureau, which is a legal entity, included in the legislation on the legal profession. In accordance with the law adopted on October 11, 2018, lawyers who have established law offices can carry out their activities in residential premises owned by them on the basis of ownership or other legal grounds, and there is no requirement to transfer residential premises owned by a lawyer to the category of non-residential premises for use in the activities of a law office. This, in turn, has created greater opportunities for new lawyers entering the legal profession. Therefore, today the law bureau ranks first among the most frequently created legal entities.

In order to eradicate unnecessary red tape, bureaucracy and paperwork in the activities of the legal profession, establishing electronic document management with courts, law enforcement agencies and other government bodies, on May 30, 2022, a resolution of the President of Uzbekistan “On measures for broad implementation of modern information and communication technologies in the activities of the legal profession.” As important changes based on this resolution, the following should be noted: the issuance of a license to practice law is carried out and processed through the “License” information system while maintaining the current procedure for the applicant to pass the qualification exam; state registration, re-registration and liquidation of legal entities are carried out only electronically through the Unified portal of interactive public services of the Republic of Uzbekistan according to the “single window” principle; when starting a lawyer's practice, the provision of a comprehensive service for passing a qualification exam, obtaining a license to practice law and state registration of a law office is separately noted.

Also, the launch of the Legal Aid information system, which provides for the digitalization of the processes of providing legal assistance to citizens, the integration of the legal profession with the activities of courts and law enforcement agencies, as well as other government bodies, has created a number of opportunities for lawyers. In particular, the formation of an electronic register of lawyers and their personal electronic account has been determined, the suspension of the status of a lawyer at his own request is carried out in the form of an electronic notification, the practice of issuing an “Electronic Lawyer Order” with a special QR code, equivalent to the status of an order in the traditional form issued to lawyers to conduct a specific case, is being introduced. One of the main changes in connection with the implementation of the “Legal Aid” information system is the determination of the procedure for attracting lawyers to a case at the expense of the state through random selection electronically without the human factor.

On December 7, 2019, in the speech of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the ceremony dedicated to the 27th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, it was emphasized that it is necessary to carry out important changes.

Goal 19 of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 28, 2022 “On the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026” is formulated as: radically increasing the potential of the institution of advocacy in protecting human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests, as well as fully satisfying the needs of the population and business entities for qualified legal services. This decree is of great importance in that it provides optimal solutions to systemic problems of the legal profession. In particular, it is planned to transfer the institution of the legal profession to a system of full self-government, strengthen the accountability of the governing bodies of the Chamber of Lawyers to the legal community, attract young qualified personnel to the system, eradicate unnecessary bureaucracy and paperwork through the introduction of modern information technologies in legal practice, establish electronic document management with courts, law enforcement agencies and other government bodies, introduce a system of providing free legal assistance to citizens in need of social protection, not only in criminal cases, but and in civil and administrative cases. All this served to further improve the institution of the legal profession and increase its attractiveness.

On June 16, 2023, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan ZRU-848 “On the provision of legal assistance at the expense of the state” was adopted. In accordance with this law, the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan is designated as a specially authorized state body in the field of providing legal assistance at the expense of the state. At the same time, the law defines the basic principles of providing legal assistance at the expense of the state, the persons providing such assistance, the categories of cases for which legal assistance is provided at the expense of the state, the grounds for refusal and termination of the provision of legal assistance at the expense of the state, as well as the grounds and sources of financing legal assistance at the expense of the state.

According to statistical data on the activities of the Chamber of Lawyers of the Republic of Uzbekistan as of January 1, 2024, lawyers took part in 85339 cases as intended (for all reasons). This has led to a sharp increase in these figures every year. In our country, there is a need to simplify the procedure for hiring into the legal profession, as well as the procedure for obtaining a license to practice law.

It should be noted that as of October 1, 2023, the permanent population of the Republic of Uzbekistan amounted to more than 36,599,764 people, and according to the Chamber of Lawyers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as of June 1, 2023, 5,665 people were practicing law in our country lawyers. Analysis of these statistics shows that as of October 1, 2023, there is an average of 1 lawyer per 6,460 residents in Uzbekistan. The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Bar” has been amended to abolish the requirement that a person applying for an exam to obtain a license to practice law has at least two years of work experience in the legal profession. This contributed to a sharp increase in the number of applicants wishing to become lawyers, the emergence of healthy competition and increased attractiveness of the legal profession, as well as the creation of an effective system for attracting young personnel to this field.

Dilshodbek Nurumov,

Associate Professor of the Department of Justice,

law enforcement agencies

and Advocacy of TSUL