The Senate of Uzbekistan has approved a landmark judicial reform package designed to dramatically lower the cost of legal appeals, automate court selections, and hold government officials directly accountable in the courtroom.
The comprehensive law introduces sweeping amendments to the Criminal Procedural Code, the Economic Procedural Code, the Code of Administrative Court Procedure, and the Courts Law and the State Duties Law.
Dismantling Barriers to Justice
According to Abdulhakim Eshmuratov, Chairman of the Senate Committee, the legislative overhaul directly addresses "real-world needs" voiced by the business community during the presidential open dialogue. Historically, exorbitant state court fees and inflexible filing systems effectively barred local businesses from challenging unlawful government actions.
The financial risk of litigation was severe. Senator Eshmuratov revealed that in 2024 alone, plaintiffs were forced to forfeit over 23 billion soums in state duties for more than a thousand lawsuits that were dismissed without ever receiving a formal hearing.
To eliminate these predatory dynamics, the new bill introduces a guaranteed refund policy: if a lawsuit is dismissed simply because it overlaps with a debtor’s active insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings, all previously paid state duties will be fully returned to the plaintiff.
Digital Courts and Structural Consolidations
The legislation introduces an innovative "extraterritorial jurisdiction" mechanism aimed at preventing provincial bias and logistical gridlock. Under the new system, an automated digital framework will assign cases to impartial courtrooms. In administrative disputes, the victim will choose the jurisdiction, while in economic lawsuits, the location will be decided by mutual agreement of the parties.
To ensure unified judicial standards, the state is completely restructuring its economic court layout:
- All localized inter-district, district, and municipal economic courts will be permanently dismantled.
- Consolidated, high-efficiency inter-district economic courts will be established exclusively within provincial administrative capitals, the city of Tashkent, and the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
In an unprecedented step toward public sector accountability, the bill will deploy the principle of "legitimate expectation." This framework establishes that well-intentioned individuals and business owners cannot be penalized for mistakes or illegal decisions made by state agencies. Furthermore, any government official whose administrative decision is being legally challenged is now legally mandated to personally attend the courtroom proceedings.
To streamline this process, administrative courts are rolling out a new 20-day "preliminary hearing" mechanism to assist plaintiffs before a formal trial begins.
"The court will now actively guide and support individuals or entrepreneurs when they file a case," explained Shukhrat Polvanov, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court. "During this window, the court will clarify exactly what the individual is seeking, define their specific claims, and point out any formal paperwork errors that need to be rectified."
Judicial officials expect these combined structural changes to eliminate deeply rooted courtroom bureaucracy and significantly elevate the legal protection of private enterprises across the country.
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