Constitutional-legal reforms in Uzbekistan - guarantee for inviolability of private property

26.07.2024

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In Uzbekistan more than 300 regulatory documents aimed at protecting property rights from illegal encroachments and ensuring the rights of owners have been adopted. At the same time, a number of organizational measures were implemented to improve the foundations of ensuring the privacy of private property.

First of all, the continuation of institutional and structural reforms aimed at protecting the right of private property and further strengthening its priority position was defined as one of the priority directions for the development and liberalization of the country's economy in the Strategy of actions for the five priority directions of the development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021;

Secondly, the legal basis for bringing the state policy to a new level in the field of private ownership and entrepreneurship development, practical support for business entities, as well as increasing the efficiency of the use of state property on the basis of privatized state property was created in our country;

Thirdly, guarantees of protection of private property and rights of owners have been strengthened, a system of organizing work to support business initiatives has been created, as well as opportunities for business entities have been expanded;

Fourthly, on the basis of the Decree of the President of the Uzbekistan dated on January 10, 2019 "On measures to fundamentally improve urbanization processes", legal entities and individuals will acquire land plots that belong to them on the basis of the rights of permanent use (ownership), lease or lifetime ownership in accordance with the law opportunities for privatization have been created;

Fifthly, on the basis of the decision of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated on March 18, 2022 "On additional measures to further reduce state participation in the economy and accelerate privatization", additional conditions were created for the privatization of state-owned properties, hence, the reduction of state participation in the economy and the development of the private sector is being enabled;

Sixthly, in order to reliably protect the inviolability of property rights and achieve the goal of limiting illegal interference of state bodies in property relations defined in the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026, the measures are being taken to strengthen the guarantees of privacy and protection of private property, unconditionally ensure the rights to property, including land, establish the priority of private property as the main principle, introduce a system of protection of the rights of the person who buys property relying on the official information of the state office;

Seventhly, the right to own, use and dispose of private property or the procedures, requirements and restrictions that prevent the full implementation of market economy principles in property relations is thoroughly cancelled on the basis of the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated on August 24, 2022 "On measures to reliably protect the inviolability of property rights, prevent unjustified interference in property relations, and increase the level of capitalization of private property".

Information technologies are being introduced to ensure the transparency of the system as part of the reforms in this area. In particular, from January 1, 2023, the state register of rights to real estate objects and the single "UZKAD" integrated information system aimed at the registration of cadastre and real estate, where information about real estate objects is kept, the authenticity and reliability of the data are guaranteed by the state, have been launched. All other state information systems where data on real estate objects are kept are integrated into the system, real-time online exchange of information, formalization of transactions related to real estate and state registration have been introduced.

It is known from international experience that the Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "Everyone has the right to own property individually and jointly with others. No one can be deprived of his property by violence". France's 1789 "Declaration of the Rights and Liberties of Man and the Citizen" is considered the first document of constitutional importance to define the guarantees of private property, and it states that private property is a natural and inalienable, sacred and inviolable right of man. The property and inheritance rights are guaranteed, their content and limits are regulated by law in the German Constitution, the private property is inviolable, no one can be forced to give up their property, except in cases where it is required for the public good in Denmark, everyone has the right to own private property and such property cannot be unjustly seized by any party in Indonesia, and it is prohibited to abrogate the common right to private property in Georgia.

The system "person - society - state" was strengthened with constitutional foundations that provide for completely new mechanisms for the protection of human rights and freedoms as a result of the constitutional reforms initiated by the head of our state, in the new version of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted on April 30, 2023. In particular, the inviolability of private property, the fact that the owner cannot be deprived of his property except in the cases and procedures stipulated by the law and not based on the decision of the court, is guaranteed at the level of the constitutional norm. It is determined that the owner who was deprived of his home will be compensated for the value of the home and the damages he suffered in advance and in an equal amount. In addition, it is established at the constitutional level that land is private property pursuit to the second part of Article 68 of our Constitution.

It is worth noting that preventive measures are of great importance in ensuring and protecting the integrity of private property and preventing violations of the rights and interests of owners protected by law.

In this regard, it is expedient to regularly increase the legal knowledge of the population regarding property relations, to increase the legal culture of representatives of local state authorities on the provision of property rights, to form an uncompromising attitude of law enforcement agencies to the situation of property rights violations, to strengthen preventive measures in this regard, to protect the property of individuals and legal entities and it is important to strengthen their confidence in judicial protection from encroachments on their property, other rights and freedoms. After all, only the joint efforts of all state bodies to ensure constitutional legitimacy guarantee the implementation of the universal principles that human, his life, freedom, honor, dignity and other inviolable rights are the highest value in the country.

President Shavkat Mirziyoev emphasized that "we will continue our reforms that meet international standards in order to ensure guarantees of property rights of individuals and legal entities". Ensuring the inviolability of private property, protecting it from various obstacles, creating all the necessary conditions for maintaining and increasing private property, supporting owners, and further strengthening the guarantees of protecting the rights of independent ownership, use and disposal of their own property - this is remains an important criterion for the development of a legal democratic state and civil society. In this regard, the conceptual norms defined in our updated Constitution serve as a legal foundation for the gradual improvement of all spheres of social, economic, and political life.

 

Rustam Khatamov,

Head of the Academy of MIA of the Republic of Uzbekistan,

doctor of philosophy (PhD) in law sciences, associate professor

Preliminary results of parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan announced

28.10.2024

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The text of the article is in Uzbek!

In recent years, Uzbekistan has adopted more than 3 thousand normative acts aimed at comprehensive support for business

22.06.2024

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Business rights are a priority of the New Uzbekistan



Since 2017, Uzbekistan has put forward cardinal, unexpected and favorable changes for entrepreneurs. The peculiarity of these changes is that they were aimed at reducing the control functions of the state and opening the way to the free conduct of business. All barriers that hindered entrepreneurs at that time were gradually eliminated.

Liberalization of punishment against entrepreneurs, elimination of possibilities of unjustified interference in their activities, strengthening of close diplomatic ties with foreign countries, simplification of export-import procedures - all this gave a powerful impetus to the development of business environment and motivated entrepreneurs to develop and actively expand their business without obstacles.

In particular, all types of unscheduled inspections and counter-inspections of the activities of business entities, including criminal cases, were canceled. A mechanism of putting forward a moratorium on inspections conducted in the activities of entrepreneurs was introduced, which is actively used to this day.

The measure of criminal punishment in the form of deprivation of the right to carry out entrepreneurial activities was abolished.

Since 2017, the Business Ombudsman, created on the initiative of the head of state himself, has been functioning effectively. Reporting to the President, it makes proposals to improve the business environment in the country and remove various obstacles to the development of entrepreneurship.

Uzbekistan is not resting on its laurels. The country has set itself big goals - to bring the share of the private sector in GDP to 80% and the share of the private sector in exports to 60% by 2027.



The president's dialog with entrepreneurs is the key to solving many problems



It is important for every entrepreneur to be listened to in case of difficulties or obstacles in his/her activity. This is especially important if the problem requires the intervention of government officials.

Obviously, in the conditions of economic development of the state there are problems that create difficulties for business. They require prompt intervention from the highest authorities in order to prevent stagnation in the development of this or that industry, as well as to give an impetus for further development.

Such a peculiar impetus was the dialog of entrepreneurs with the President, which is held annually, and entrepreneurs have the opportunity to communicate directly with the head of state.

The opportunity to be heard is given to every entrepreneur in every region of the country through meetings. After analysis and generalization, the most relevant and justified proposals are submitted to the head of state for appropriate decisions. In addition, the proposals and complaints of hundreds of entrepreneurs are listened to on a day of open dialog.

Over the past three years, more than 33 thousand appeals and proposals were received from entrepreneurs during the open dialogs. As a result of the dialogs, more than 150 initiatives were put forward to remove obstacles in the development of entrepreneurship, as well as its further development.

In particular, if we analyze the initiatives put forward after the 2021 Dialogue, the reforms were aimed at mitigating the effects of the pandemic, extending tax and customs exemptions and granting deferral of taxes and mandatory payments.

The 2022 Dialogue stood out for the support of business representatives on various fronts, starting with tax reforms such as reducing VAT percentages to 12 percent, shortening the VAT refund period to 7 days, and introducing a flat tax rate of 4 percent instead of the current sales tax ranging from 4 percent to 25 percent.

In addition, the mechanisms for ensuring the rights of entrepreneurs have been expanded by introducing a procedure for canceling the decision to allocate land plots or property only in court.

As a result of the dialog, another problem that worried entrepreneurs was eliminated, concerning the application of higher tax rates due to the non-use of an empty building or land plot. This mechanism was not only canceled, but also debts of entrepreneurs in the amount of 2 trillion soums formed as a result of payment of taxes at the increased rate were written off.

Last year, as a result of the dialog, the mechanisms of financing entrepreneurship were radically revised, the Business Development Bank was established, and tax reforms aimed at protecting the rights of entrepreneurs were introduced.

It has become a tradition for entrepreneurs to look forward to the date "August 20 - Entrepreneurs' Day" every year. It is on the eve of this day that new initiatives to support business are announced in the course of dialog.
Digitalization of business protection as a guarantee to ensure unjustified interference in the activities of entrepreneurs



One of the topics of most concern to entrepreneurs is the topic of inspections. In this area, it is important to ensure the protection of entrepreneurs.

Digital monitoring of inspections conducted in the activities of entrepreneurs by state bodies is carried out by the Business Ombudsman.

The information system "Unified State Control" allows registering inspections carried out in the activities of entrepreneurs, their results, as well as filing complaints in case of violations by the inspecting authorities.

State bodies are prohibited from conducting inspections without registering them in this system. Otherwise, this will serve as grounds for administrative liability.

In order to ensure the transparency of inspections and the rights of business entities, the new system "Unified State Control" provides full access for business entities as well.

Thus, in the new system "Unified State Control" a number of functions have been added, such as the Electronic Book of Registration of Inspections, which provides full oversight of inspections by the Authorized Body.

In order to combat corruption and illegal inspections in the system "Unified State Control" was made an electronic database of all officials with the right to conduct inspections This in turn eliminates the possibility of falsification of data of the certificate with the right to conduct inspections. Entrepreneurs can check the data of the special license of inspectors and in case of non-compliance with the system have the right not to allow them on their territory.

Moreover, registers of state control functions and mandatory requirements have been compiled for business entities, which provides an opportunity to familiarize with the control functions of state inspections and mandatory requirements in relation to them.

As a result of the introduction of the "Unified State Control" system, it has become much easier for the Authorized Body to identify facts of offenses in the state control.



Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030" - prospects for business development in the future



Uzbekistan does not stop at what has been achieved. Rapid steps to further support the business sphere are also enshrined in the Strategy "Uzbekistan - 2030".

Efficient use of local raw material base and development of industry based on advanced technologies, consistent transfer of monopolistic spheres to market principles, increasing the share of private sector in the economy, creating the most favorable conditions for free activity of entrepreneurs are still a hot topic.

In addition, full digitalization and simplification of the tax system is planned, as well as the creation of equal opportunities for all entrepreneurs to make the official sector preferable and more profitable than illegal activities.

For this purpose, a simplified and compact legislative system will be created, convenient for the population and business entities.



Dilmurod Kasimov,

authorized to protect the rights and legitimate interests

business entities