Laws aimed at strengthening the protection of citizens' rights and freedoms were discussed.
On January 7 of this year, a meeting of the Senate Committee on Judicial and Legal Affairs and Anti-Corruption took place, where a number of laws were preliminarily discussed.
Senators, chairpersons of permanent commissions from local councils, members of the Youth Parliament, members of the expert group under the Committee, initiators of the laws, representatives of relevant ministries and agencies, as well as media representatives participated in the meeting.
The discussion focused on the Law "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan Aimed at Further Strengthening Guarantees for Reliable Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms".
As a result of large-scale reforms in judicial and investigative practices, effective mechanisms have been developed to ensure the guarantees for the protection of human rights and freedoms.
In particular, this Law introduces the position of an investigative judge in district and city courts for criminal cases to reliably ensure the constitutional rights of individuals accused of committing a crime, particularly regarding their freedom and personal inviolability.
Changes and additions are being made to the legislation to clarify the issues of sanctioning procedural decisions at the pre-trial stage of criminal cases and considering cases of administrative offenses by investigative judges, outlining the grounds and procedures for reviewing cases that fall within the competence of investigative judges.
During the discussion, senators noted that the adoption of the Law contributes to the further strengthening of guarantees for reliable protection of individual rights and freedoms in investigative activities.
The meeting also reviewed the Law "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Connection with the Improvement of the System for Combating Economic Crimes".
It was noted that additional tasks have been assigned to the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the General Prosecutor's Office in the area of ensuring the prevention of violations of budget legislation, timely disclosure, and thorough, complete, and objective investigation of economic crimes.
It was emphasized that the discussed Law introduces changes and additions to the Criminal Procedure Code and the Law "On Combating Corruption", clarifying the powers of the Department for conducting investigations in criminal cases.
Additionally, it was noted that according to the Law, changes are made to the Code on Administrative Responsibility and the Budget Code, assigning the powers of state financial control bodies of the Ministry of Economy and Finance to the Inspection of State Financial Control of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the General Prosecutor's Office.
During the discussion, senators highlighted that the Law serves to ensure legality, accurate and uniform application of legal norms, as well as the legal support for reforms being implemented in the judicial and legal sphere.
As a result of the meeting, the Committee made the corresponding decisions.