President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed a decree aimed at enhancing guarantees for the protection of human rights and freedoms in judicial and investigative activities.

The decree provides for legal mechanisms to prevent cases of human rights violations that persist in practice, especially to prevent law enforcement officials from committing illegal actions against individuals. In addition, practical measures are envisaged to radically improve the quality of investigation based on international standards.

According to the decree, in order to prevent violation of the rights of a detainee, a procedure is envisaged according to which:

- the detention period of a person suspected of committing a crime is calculated not from the moment of his tranfer to the law enforcement agency (as it is currently provided), but from the moment of his actual detention;

- the obligation is established to ensure a meeting in private with a lawyer from the moment the person is actually detained and until procedural actions with him are carried out.

In addition, in order to prevent cases of violation of rights during the period of pre-trial proceedings in criminal cases, it is prohibited to:

- summon to law enforcement agencies and interrogate close relatives of the detained suspect or accused in the absence of grounds for involving them as participants in the process;

- if there are real grounds for involving a person in a criminal case as a suspect or an accused, interrogate him as a witness, as well as receive any written or oral evidence from him before explaining procedural rights.

The decree also establishes the obligatory participation of a defense attorney in cases of persons suspected or accused of committing an especially grave crime, as well as persons in respect of whom the issue of applying a preventive measure in the form of detention or house arrest is being considered.