At the meeting of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the work carried out to improve the draft Constitutional Law “On introducing amendments and addenda to the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan” was discussed.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Lower House of Parliament on Combating Corruption, Judicial and Legal Issues Jakhongir Shirinov delivered a speech on the issue of the agenda.

“The Draft Constitutional Law amended the preamble and almost 76 articles of our Constitution, it is planned to introduce 15 new articles and 1 new chapter”, he noted. – Work continued on introducing new provisions into the Constitution aimed at further strengthening the protection of human rights and freedoms, honor and dignity. In particular, the provision on the presumption of innocence is being strengthened. Now the accused of committing a crime is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in court and established by a court verdict that has entered into legal force. In addition, the introduction of a provision under which a person will not be found guilty and will not be punished if his confession is the only evidence against him is being discussed.

Norms are being introduced to enhance the role of lawyers in protecting human rights. The Constitution includes a new chapter XXII-I, dedicated to the prosecutor’s office.

It is also planned to introduce separate provisions on the strict continuation of the policy of openness in the Basic Law.

The Constitution includes provisions aimed at increasing access to justice and ensuring the independence of judges.

At the meeting, the deputies highly appreciated the work done by the Constitutional Commission and the responsible committees, proposed to continue improving the draft Constitutional Law, paying attention to every proposal that comes from the population, stressed that they should not be ignored or approached superficially.

Mukhtarama Komilova, UzA