On June 8 this year, a ceremony of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the US Agency for International Development USAID in the field of supporting the strengthening of the rule of law in Uzbekistan.

On June 8 this year, a ceremony of signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the US Agency for International Development USAID in the field of supporting the strengthening of the rule of law in Uzbekistan.

Strengthening cooperation by signing the Memorandum is a logical continuation of the agreements reached by the Minister of Justice in Washington during the official visit of the Head of the state to the United States.

Today's event will create a solid foundation for opening new opportunities to expand Uzbekistan – American cooperation in judicial and legal sphere.

The Memorandum will give impetus to development of new mutually beneficial programs and projects, as well as will serve as a basis for supporting the Republic of Uzbekistan in realization and implementation of reforms in judicial and legal sphere.

The purpose of this document is to support the Republic of Uzbekistan in implementation of the second direction "Ensuring the rule of law and further reforming the judicial and legal system" of the Action Strategy on five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021. In particular, within the framework of this document, within the next 3 years, it is planned to allocate up to US $12 million for implementation of joint projects funded by USAID within the framework of programs on ensuring the rule of law in Uzbekistan through development of draft new laws and other normative-legal acts, as well as creation of favorable legal environment for development of civil society organizations (CSO) and non-governmental non-profit organizations (NGO) in Uzbekistan.

It should be noted that at present the Ministry of Justice is carrying out a large-scale work on implementation of a number of projects aimed at improving activities of justice bodies and institutions, with active involvement of grant funds of such international organizations.

In particular, agreements were reached with a number of international organizations, such as the European Union, UNDP, the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ), the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ), the Japan International Cooperation Agency for Legal Reform in Uzbekistan (JICA), the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency, as well as with the British Embassy in Uzbekistan.

Within the framework of the agreements, projects are being implemented aimed at improving and modernizing the system of public services, training and improving the skills of legal personnel, providing legal services in particular, developing the legal profession, reforming the notary's system and registrar bodies, as well as attracting foreign experts for the rule-making process.

Through these interactions over the past year, more than 60 foreign trips have been organized, within which more than 100 justice officials have been trained in various areas of law, more than 50 international conferences, scientific and practical workshops with participation of foreign experts were held.

In addition, projects have been launched for a total amount of about 10 million USD. In particular, UNDP and TIKA have allocated resources for improving the delivery of public services, UNDP is also funding a project of a set of anti-corruption measures. Together with the British Embassy, a project is being implemented to launch the Single Information Portal aimed at ensuring the population's awareness of their rights, available services and opportunities in all spheres of life.

At the same time, work is underway on development of cooperation of the Ministry of Justice with state bodies of foreign countries in the legal sphere by signing Cooperation Agreements, which provide for interaction of countries in exchange of experience, delegations, legal information and literature in the field of justice. Currently, such agreements exist with a number of countries, such as Russia, South Korea, Japan, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia, as well as negotiations are being held with countries such as France, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, UAE, India, USA, Canada, Israel, Vietnam, Iran, Kuwait, Pakistan and others.

The signed Memorandum with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will also become a new stage in Uzbekistan – American cooperation in the field of the rule of law.