Uzbekistan’s assessment in the Rule of Law Index creates a positive image of the country in the international community
On October 26, 2022, the Rule of Law Index was announced. It should be noted that in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated June 2, 2020 No. PD-6003 “On improving the position of the Republic of Uzbekistan in international ratings and indices, as well as introducing a new mechanism for systematic work with them in state bodies and organizations”, the Rule of Law Index defined as one of the priority international ratings and indices for Uzbekistan.
The Ministry of Justice is a state body responsible for taking systematic and consistent measures to improve the position of the Republic of Uzbekistan in international ratings and indices in the political and legal sphere, including the Rule of Law Index.
The Rule of Law Index is compiled annually by the international non-governmental organization World Justice Project, and includes 8 indicators, in particular, “Constraints on Government Powers”, “Absence of corruption”, “Open Government”, “Fundamental rights”, “Order and Security”, “Regulatory enforcement”, “Civil Justice” and “Criminal Justice”.
The assessment of Uzbekistan in this index is an important factor in the formation of a positive image of the country in the international community.
This year, there has been an improvement in Uzbekistan’s performance in all eight indicators.
In the general list, Uzbekistan took the 78th position among 140 states, overtaking such countries as Serbia, Albania, China, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkey and others.
When compiling the index, surveys were conducted among more than 150,000 households and about 4,000 lawyers from 140 countries of the world, the level of legality was assessed.
In 2022, the rule of law improved in only 54 countries, worsened in 85, and remained unchanged in 1 country. In this Index, Uzbekistan was included in the number of countries where the situation with the rule of law has improved.
An analysis of the dynamics of the Rule of Law Index a consistent improvement in the position of Uzbekistan, which is facilitated by the ongoing reforms in the country based on the principle “In the name of honor and dignity of man” with a deep analysis of complex global processes and the results of the past stages of the country's development.
Thus, this year there is an improvement in Uzbekistan's indicators by 7 positions. Last year, the country ranked 85th in this Index.
In 2022, the best performance is noted for the following indicators:
– According to the indicator “Order and security”, Uzbekistan entered the top 20 countries, taking the 16th place.
– “Criminal Justice” ranked 65th, followed by Bulgaria (72nd), Belarus (76th), Serbia (84th), Moldova (85th), Indonesia (88th), India (89th), Turkey (106th), Kyrgyzstan (114th), Russia (123rd);
– The indicator “Absence of corruption” - 66th place, followed by countries such as Turkey (70th place), Bulgaria (77th place), Serbia (86th place), Russia (90th place), India (93rd place), Moldova (105th place), Albania (107th place), Kyrgyzstan (127th place);
– Uzbekistan ranked 75th on “Civil Justice”;
– Indicator “Regulatory enforcement” - 99th place;
– Indicator “Fundamental rights” - 107th place;
– Indicator “Constraints on Government Powers” - 114th place;
– according to the indicator “Open Government” - 122nd out of 140 countries respectively.
The consistent improvement of Uzbekistan’s positions in international rankings and indices was facilitated by a strategic approach to the implementation of comprehensive reforms based on two important program documents: the Action Strategy for five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021, as well as the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026.
The rule of law index is the second rating in the political and legal sphere, which demonstrates a steady improvement in Uzbekistan's position over the current year.
Recall that on September 23, 2022, the results of the analysis for 2021 of the World Bank Governance Indicators were announced, which also shows an improvement in Uzbekistan’s position in all indicators.
In particular, in terms of the “Government Effectiveness” indicator, Uzbekistan ranked 116th among 208 countries, improving the previous result by 22 positions.
According to the indicator “Political Stability and Absence of violence / terrorism”, Uzbekistan improved its result by 19 positions - up to 130th place.
According to the indicator “Voice and Accountability”, which reflects freedom of elections, expression, assembly and media, Uzbekistan has risen by 12 lines - to 182nd place.
The “Regulatory Quality” indicator, which reflects the ability of the government to formulate and implement reasonable policies and rules that create the necessary legal framework for the development of the private sector, showed significant improvement. So, our country has risen by 33 positions, while taking 144th place.
According to the “Rule of Law” indicator, Uzbekistan has risen to 168th place (+13 positions).
The result of the country on the indicator "Control over corruption" improved by 15 points (161st place).
The achievement of the above results was also facilitated by the creation of legal and institutional mechanisms for targeted work with priority international ratings and indices for Uzbekistan.
In this regard, it should be noted that systematic efforts are being made to increase the role of our country in the world community and to improve the position of the Republic of Uzbekistan in economic, political and legal international rankings and indices, The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has also set up ministries and departments to that end.
In particular, the Republican Council for Work with International Ratings and Indices has been established.
The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice are designated by the working bodies of the Council.
The following reforms have helped to improve the position of Uzbekistan in the two above-mentioned rankings:
– Government reporting to Parliament, administrative reforms, measures to further improve public oversight mechanisms;
– the work carried out in such areas as ensuring the effective execution of government decisions, including by preventing side effects due to the introduction of the institution of regulatory impact assessment, compliance with administrative procedures, ensuring the inviolability of property rights;
– measures implemented in the field of administration of justice and enforcement of court decisions, the ability of citizens to exercise their rights through the courts, independence of courts from the influence of state bodies, compliance by courts with procedural deadlines and proper execution of court decisions, increasing the level of public satisfaction with the impartiality of court decisions;
– improving the openness and competitive environment in public procurement, increasing the transparency of the licensing process, comprehensive measures to prevent corruption, including strengthening the legal and institutional framework;
– measures aimed at eliminating cases of torture and unjustified detentions by law enforcement agencies, pressure on citizens and journalists, infringement of the right to freedom of opinion and speech, exclusion of arbitrary interference in private life, as well as the development of civil society institutions and ensuring basic labor rights (security of wages salary, satisfaction with working hours, absence of forced labor);
– reforms implemented in such areas as the openness of local government bodies and ensuring the right of citizens to information by local executive bodies, the participation of citizens in the decision-making process at the local level. The effective use of mechanisms for appealing against the actions of officials is of great importance.
Thus, today we can safely say that reforms aimed at guaranteeing the protection of human rights, raising the standard of living of the population, ensuring freedom of economic activity, improving substantive and procedural norms in the judicial and legal sphere, lead to an increase in the image of Uzbekistan and an increase in the position of our state in authoritative international rankings and indices.
Dilafruz Sufiyeva
Head of the Department for Work
with International Ratings and Indices,
Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan
