President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Mediation Bill into Law Tuesday. The bill was passed by the Legislative Chamber on June 12, 2018 and was approved by the Senate on June 28, 2018. The law will take effect on January 1, 2019.
The aim of the law is to create legal conditions for the development in Uzbekistan of alternative ways of settling disputes, reducing the burden on the Uzbek judicial system.
The law applies to relations related to the application of mediation to disputes arising from civil legal relations, including in connection with the conduct of entrepreneurial activities, as well as to certain labor disputes, disputes arising from family legal relations.
However, its shall not apply to public interests and disputes that affect or may affect the rights and legitimate interests of third parties not involved in mediation.
The law stipulates that the activity of the mediator can be performed on a professional or non-professional basis.
However, the law stipulates that a person who has undergone a special training under the mediator training programs approved by the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan and also entered in the Register of Professional Mediators may exercise the activity of the mediator on a professional basis.
On an unprofessional basis, the mediator may be a person who has reached the age of twenty-five and who has agreed to perform the duties of a mediator.
The law also states that mediation is not an entrepreneurial activity, it is conducted on the basis of principles of confidentiality, voluntariness, cooperation and equality of parties, independence and impartiality of the mediator.
