Expert circles analyze the maturity of legislative initiatives

Parliamentary and public control are crucial elements of social management, some essential channels of obtaining objective information about the life of the society, about current political, economic, social and legal processes, operation of state authorities and administration. This was pointed out by participants of the international panel discussion on ‘Further development of the institutions of parliamentary and public control: national and European experience’.

The meeting was organized by the Legislative Chamber and the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, National Center of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights, Ministry of Justice, the Institute for Monitoring Legislation and Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan jointly with the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, K. Adenauer Foundation with the assistance of the Embassy of France in Uzbekistan.

The main objective of the meeting was to scrutinize the implementation of the constitutional principle of separation of powers, creation of an effective system of checks and balances, strengthening of the role, authority and control functions of the legislative branch and representative bodies on the ground, development of the institution of social control in the system of state administration and public construction. The panel discussion also became a dialogue platform for the development of proposals on improvement of the draft laws ‘On parliamentary control’ and ‘On public scrutiny” with an eye to the advice of foreign experts.

It is important to mention that the issues of control over the implementation of the adopted laws have always been in the spotlight of the parliament of Uzbekistan. Moreover, parliamentary control over the implementation of laws, along with lawmaking, is traditionally regarded as the main field of concern of Oliy Majlis. Speaking on that, the President noted: \"We attach great importance to the radical change of not just the legislative system, but also the implementation of coherent actions of the legislative and executive authorities on implementation of existing laws. Thus, it is always relevant for us to implement the adopted laws in everyday life.\"

It is noteworthy that since 2002 the parliament has been at the crucial stage of its reform based on provisions of the referendum that took place January 27, 2002. The time required new approaches to quality and efficiency of both the legislative and control activities of Oliy Majlis on the basis of its transformation into a professional two-chamber parliament.

As a follow up of the ongoing parliamentary reforms two constitutional law of the Republic of Uzbekistan ‘On the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan’ and ‘On the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan’ were adopted on 12 December 2002. Both acts were put into practice upon the elections to Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan in December 2004 - January 2005, and formation of the Legislative Chamber and the Senate.

The ‘Concept of intensifying democratic reforms and forming the civil society in the country’ put forward by the head of the state at the joint session of both chambers of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on November 12, 2010, was a powerful impetus for further strengthening the supervisory powers of the Legislative Chamber. Based on the Concept, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan ‘On introducing changes and amendments to certain articles of the Constitution (Articles 78, 80, 93, 96 and 98)’ was adopted on April 18, 2011 to vest the parliament with significant additional supervisory functions. In particular, they include hearing and discussion of reports of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan on relevant issues of socio-economic development of the country. Besides, at that very time, a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, the new institution of parliamentary control, was founded.

Today it is clear that the implementation of the mechanism of parliamentary control directly contributes to the enforcement of adopted legislative acts, defines their effectiveness, rapid identification and elimination of shortcomings in the legislation, and ensures a high level of responsibility of officials for the execution of the laws, and therefore the authority of the legislature. As noted by foreign experts, the adoption of laws on parliamentary and public control in Uzbekistan will help to create a unified organizational and legal mechanism to facilitate the further democratization and liberalization of the system of governance in the republic, and practically ensure the balance of interests of the state and society, which is a key constitutional principle. In this regard, the enhanced competence of the members of parliament and legal culture in society, as well as creation of environment for openness and transparency in government play the important role.

As noted by the panelists, the global expertise shows that today the parliaments of different countries use inquiry to the bodies of state power and administration, and to officials, declare a vote of no confidence or censure the government, lay claim to the government in no reliance, hold parliamentary hearings, investigations, and much more.

Control over the expenditure of the State Budget by the government is the crucial field of parliamentary control in Uzbekistan. Its effectiveness depends on the definition by both houses of clear procedures of consideration of quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports on the State Budget, the collection and evaluation of information related to public finances and property. Budget and financial control of two houses of parliament is based on a system of cooperation with the Chamber of Accounts, which focuses on the arrangement and provision of control over the execution of the State Budget.

“The Commissioner for Human Rights of Oliy Majlis is one of key mechanisms of parliamentary control over human rights, the priority area of whom is to accept and reviewing citizen’s complaints about violations of their rights by public authorities and officials,’ said Akmal Saidov, Chairman of the Committee for Democratic Institutions, Nongovernmental Organizations and Citizens’ Self-Government Bodies. It is important to effectively use the potential of the institution of Ombudsman by both chambers through the deepened cooperation with this parliamentary authority on the collection and analysis of information on the observance of legislation on human rights, regular hearing of the Ombudsman’s reports at the meetings of committees and chambers, as well as obtaining expert resolutions of the Ombudsman directorate on the draft laws affecting human rights.

The supervisory powers of two chambers of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan are settled by the legislative foundation of the Basic Law, two constitutional laws ‘On the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan’ and ‘On the Senate of Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan’, as well as the acts that regulate their operation. Meanwhile, the regulations that are somehow related to the implementation of parliamentary control are contained in some other laws: ‘On the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan’, ‘On local authorities\', ‘On the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Oliy Majlis’, and others.

However, despite the fact that the mechanism of parliamentary control is settled in many legislative acts to different extent, the analysis of the legislation shows that the development of a single legal act regulating the whole system of parliamentary control, the specific powers of authorized objects, their functions and mechanisms of interaction with civil society institutions and other objects of state control would significantly enhance the effectiveness of parliamentary control. The Constitution and the laws on two houses of Oliy Majlis mainly define the objects and forms of parliamentary control, but require the further specification of the procedures for its implementation, the aftereffects for the authorities and officials who allowed violation of the laws, as well as regulates the procedure of parliamentary hearings, peculiarities of budgetary control, and control over implementation of international agreements.

There is no clear specification of what entity or authority can implement the parliamentary control, what procedures should be applied in case of particular tool. Besides, there is no clear definition of the object of parliamentary control. It\'s no secret that the effectiveness of parliamentary control over the executive power is largely dependent on the active involvement of mass media and the general public, on the level of awareness of the deputies and senators of the situation with implementation of the laws by the executive branch. Public control by civil society institutions reveals the extent and nature of the violations of the laws on human rights, and helps the parliament to monitor the activities of the executive power. The key task is to make the parliament the conductor of democratic reforms aimed at building the open and strong civil society.

FROM PARLIAMENTary control to Public Scrutiny Nowadays the institution of public control is one of the most important elements to ensure effective feedback between the society and the state, to identify mindsets of the people and their attitude to the ongoing reforms.

Civil society institutions increasingly manifest themselves with the support of the general public. The strong legal framework is represented today by the laws ‘On public associations in the Republic of Uzbekistan’, ‘On nongovernmental organizations’, ‘On public funds’, ‘On guarantees of activity of nongovernmental organizations’, and many others. The Basic Law of the country and more than 40 acts and regulations stipulate the right of civil society institutions for implementation of public control.

The legislation, which generally meets the globally recognized principles and norms of international law, contributes to public control in all its forms, but the lack of a common law causes inconsistencies in the legal regulation of the sphere. The laws still need to be improved in terms of enhancing the role of community groups of citizens in managing the state and society. Today it is important to create a clear legal mechanism of public control over the implementation of laws, and ensuring human rights and freedoms.

Development and adoption of a special system-building law on the organization of a systemic public control in the republic gains relevance due to intensified development of civil society. This is underlined in the ‘Concept of intensifying democratic reforms and forming the civil society in the country’ as presented in the report the state’s leader: \"There is an urgent need to adopt the Law ‘On public control in the Republic of Uzbekistan’, which would empower the creation of a systemic effective legislative mechanism of monitoring the implementation of legislative acts by state authorities and administration carried out by the public and civil society institutions. The law should define the types, forms and objects of public scrutiny, the subject of control, legislative mechanisms of its implementation, as well as the liability terms for the executives for failure to implement the current legislation in this field.\"

The main objectives of public control include monitoring the observance by state authorities of the laws and other legislative acts, implementation of the rights, fundamental freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens, legitimacy, effectiveness of public authorities, as well as taking of practical measures to eliminate violations of state bodies and executives in decision-making.

Enhancement of social and legal activity, the sense of participation in all social events in citizens, a clear awareness of state executives of their activity being controlled by the public is the pledge for the development of civil society.

More than 80 conferences, panel discussions, seminars, public hearings with involvement of representatives of all stakeholders, including NGOs, mass media and others were organized for the development of a bill initiated in the President’s Concept. The events generated hundreds of proposals, most of which were taken into account in finalizing the bill. Also, the bill was discussed in the framework of the National Forum of NGOs of Uzbekistan. Public discussion of the draft law was provided on the website of the Ministry of Justice and NANNOUz. Besides, the International Center of Not-for-Profit Law provided the international examination of the bill, and offered about 20 proposals for its improvement. The proposals were studied and taken into account in finalizing the bill.

The new law ‘On public control’ is aimed at creation of an effective systemic legislative mechanism that empowers public organizations and citizens to control over the implementation of legislative acts by state authorities, as well as defines the limits of the freedom of action of executives, and their responsibility for the society. Adoption of the law will clearly define the authority of civil society institutions in their interaction with state authorities, help to avoid an undue interference with the activities of state bodies, increase the degree of liability for state bodies and their executives for the quality of decision-making.

International experts, participating in the panel discussion, highly appreciated the procedure of improvement of the draft law ‘On the openness of state authority and administration’, which was also developed as a part of implementation of the Concept and aimed at ensuring access to information, transparency and openness of state authorities. According to experts, the legislative experiment in Bukhoro and Samarqand is a good example of implementation of practical and streamlined forms of public control. The experiment envisages the real-time testing of regulations of the bill, helps to reveal the opinion of the general public and, in view of the results of testing, proposals and opinions of all interested parties, finalize the bill. In general, the implementation of the provisions of the bill contributes to achievement of the goals of parliamentary and public scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the experts pointed out to dynamic, continuous and progressive process of parliamentary and public scrutiny. Even in developed democracies with age-old traditions of parliamentarianism, like France and Germany, the process of improvement of parliamentary control is developing steadily and is largely dependent on the prevailing realities and conditions of the socio-political and socio-economic development. In this regard, it was noted that in a short period of time Uzbekistan achieved tangible results in building parliamentarianism and effective participation of the parliament in the implementation of its inherent functions including development and adoption of legislation and control over its implementation with the involvement of the broad public. (Source: Uzbekistan today newspaper)