The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, at the meeting with members of the Constitutional Commission that was held on June 20 this year, made proposals to reflect the most important areas of the country’s domestic and foreign policy in the Basic Law.

The most significant are the proposals to strengthen the constitutional foundations for the exercise of parliamentary control by the Oliy Majlis.

The current legislation outlines the procedure for exercising parliamentary control over the state budget. The analysis showed that the powers of the parliament in this direction are not perfect. This is reflected in the relations between the Oliy Majlis and the Accounts Chamber.

An analysis of the experience of developed foreign countries has shown that the Accounts Chamber is considered a specially authorized body of the parliament in budget control. For example, parliamentary control over the execution of the state budget is carried out by special financial and control bodies formed by parliament, in particular, in Austria, Germany, Spain and France – the Accounts Chamber, in the United States – the Government Accountability Office, in Canada and Sweden – the Office of the Auditor General, in the UK – the Public Accounts Committee, in Brazil, Romania, Portugal and Turkey – the Court of Accounts.

The organization of the activities of such a body, of course, is also within the powers of the Parliament. The norms on the powers of the parliament to form the Accounts Chamber are defined in the Fundamental Laws of Austria, Italy, Spain and other countries.

In accordance with Article 93 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall appoint and relieve the Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of his post. The Head of the state proposed to transfer this authority to the Senate of the Oliy Majlis. It was noted that in this way the Accounts Chamber will become an important means of parliamentary control in the formation and execution of the state budget.

The question arises: what role does the Accounts Chamber play in exercising parliamentary control over the state budget?

It should be noted that in the implementation of parliamentary control over the state budget, the Oliy Majlis cooperates with the Accounts Chamber. The activities of the Accounts Chamber are aimed at conducting regular monitoring and ensuring control over the execution of the state budget, the state and operation of state assets and liabilities, conducting operations with precious metals and stones, managing the gold and foreign exchange reserve, attracting and effectively using foreign capital in the economy of the country, timely return of external debt of the state.

Based on the conclusions of the Accounts Chamber, the Oliy Majlis submits drafts on the main directions of the country’s tax and budget policy, the state budget and the budgets of state trust funds for the next year. In foreign countries, the procedure for the relationship between the Accounts Chamber and Parliament in the state budget has also been determined. For example, in France, the annual report of the Court of Accounts on the state budget is presented at the end of June to the two houses of Parliament and the Treasury.

This is directly aimed at assessing the legitimacy of budget execution, budget management and assessing the achievement of goals set by Parliament. It recommends measures to improve laws and regulations to streamline public administration. Before submitting the report, the Accounts Chamber must make a decision confirming the compliance with the state budget. In the laws of foreign countries, the parliament and the Accounts Chamber are also considered to be interrelated bodies within the framework of parliamentary control over the state budget.

In conclusion, I would like to note that it is very important that the appointment and relieve of the Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of his post became the authority of the Oliy Majlis. I consider it expedient and support the reflection in the draft Constitutional Law of the norm on the transfer to the Senate of the authority to appoint and relieve the Chairman of the Accounting Chamber.

S. Yusupov,

Head of the Administrative and Financial Law Department,

Tashkent State University of Law, Ph.D. in Law

UzA