The history of the formation of our state dates back to the distant 90s, when the foundation of our independence was laid – the Constitution of the independent Republic of Uzbekistan. On December 8, 1992, exactly 30 years ago, our Parliament adopted the Basic Law that protects the interests of citizens.

The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan is the highest normative legal act in force on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan. On that fateful day, December 8, 1992, this document entered into force, thus establishing a presidential republic.

If we pay attention to the history of our Constitution, then its first edition was published in the 247th issue of the newspaper “Narodnoye Slovo” (People’s Word) of December 15, 1992. The need to develop a new Constitution was announced at the second session, which took place on June 20, 1990, where the “Declaration of Sovereignty” was adopted. The session of the Supreme Council adopted a Resolution “On the establishment of a commission for the preparation of a draft Constitution” consisting of 64 people headed by the First President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

The commission included deputies of the Supreme Council, representatives of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and regions, scientists and specialists. For almost 2.5 years, the Constitutional Commission has been tirelessly working on the creation of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the meeting of the Constitutional Commission, held on April 12, 1991, a working group of 32 leading specialists and scientists was created. To prepare parts of the Constitution, 6 small groups of 50 people were created.

The proclamation of the state independence of Uzbekistan on August 31, 1991, and the adoption of the Law “On the fundamentals of the state independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, giving this law the status of a constitutional one, further strengthened the responsibility of this commission. It is worth noting the fact that when developing the draft Constitution, the world practice of constitutional development, the success achieved in the world in human rights, democracy and legislation were studied.

On September 26, 1992, the draft Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan was published in the media for a nationwide discussion, which lasted about two months. The draft, with corrections based on the suggestions made during the discussion, was released to the press on November 26, 1992. During the nationwide discussion, more than 6 thousand proposals were made, which were accepted by the commission for consideration.

The 11th session of the Supreme Council, held in December 1992, discussed the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

“It should be emphasized that when creating the draft of the new Constitution, we were guided by the documents of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other acts recognized by international law. At the same time, we also creatively used the constitutional practice of such developed democratic states as Türkiye, the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Spain and such eastern countries as India, Pakistan, Egypt”, said the First President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov.

At the session, the deputies introduced about 80 amendments, additions and clarifications to the draft law. Thus, on December 8, 1992, the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted. On the same day, the First President of the Republic Islam Karimov signed several laws “On the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, “On the announcement of the Day of the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan as a national holiday”, “On the procedure for enacting the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”. The Constitution of Uzbekistan has passed the examination of experts from the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, scientists and lawyers from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and many other countries, securing the fundamental principles of democracy.

The structure of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan consists of the Preamble, 6 parts, 26 chapters, divided into 128 articles.

Uzbekistan people, declared their commitment to human rights and the principles of state sovereignty, while realizing a great responsibility to present and future generations, relying on the experience of the development of Uzbek statehood, originating in distant history, confirming their loyalty to the highest ideals of democracy and social justice, recognizing a special priority universally recognized norms of international law, striving to ensure a decent life for all citizens of the country, setting the task of creating a humane democratic law-based state to ensure civil peace and national harmony, in the person of its authorized representatives adopted this Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

In connection with the rapid development of our state in all areas, President Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev proposed several amendments to the Constitution, and by his Decree established a commemorative badge “30th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

The new award will be awarded to citizens who have made and will continue to make a worthy contribution to strengthening the independence of our country, increasing its economic, political, social, scientific, spiritual potential and defense power.

The list of awardees will include representatives of all spheres, labor veterans, military personnel, law enforcement officers, as well as persons who are not citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The heads of ministries and agencies, hokims of regions and the city of Tashkent should organize a worthy presentation of commemorative badges in a solemn atmosphere at events on the occasion of the day the Constitution was adopted – December 8.

Our state has gone through a thorny path to gaining its independence and, despite all the obstacles and difficulties, our strong people and government were able to defend their rights. A vivid example of such a memorable event is our holiday – Constitution Day, which has been celebrated annually on December 8 for the past 30 years of our independence.

Mukhlisa TAJIYEVA,

An employee of the Constitutional Court of the

Republic of Uzbekistan