Uzbekistan carries out a range of organizational and regulatory measures to catalyze the involvement of nongovernmental non-profit organizations, citizens’ self-government bodies, and mass media in the implementation of public control, ensuring transparency of the operation of state authorities and administration.

Civic institutions, trade unions, the Ecology Movement of Uzbekistan and other social organizations have gained some significant practical experience in implementation of public control.

The Basic Law of the country and more than 40 acts and regulations provide for the right of civil society institutions and directly citizens for implementation of public control in environment, education, healthcare, social protection, consumer protection, protection of social and economic the rights of citizens, and others. The laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan ‘On mass media’, ‘On principles and guarantees of freedom of information’, ‘On guarantees and free access to information’, ‘On guarantees of activity of nongovernmental non-profit organizations’ and some other regulatory acts provide constitutional guarantees of the rights of citizens, mass media and NGOs to freely seek, receive, investigate, report and distribute information, as well as the principles of accessibility, transparency and credibility of information.

The ‘Concept of intensifying democratic reforms and forming the civil society in the country’ is a reasoned follow-up of measures on the development of civil society institutions in Uzbekistan. The program document envisages the development and adoption of the laws ‘On public control’, On social partnership’, ‘On transparency of state authorities and administration’, ‘On environmental control’ to ensure a balance of private, public and state interests, to increase transparency and effectiveness of the government through the involvement of civil society institutions in the management of state and social affairs.

In this context the further advancement of the institution of public control over the activities of state authorities and administration is of particular importance, for it is one of the most important elements to ensure an effective feedback between the society and the state, to know the mindset of the people and their attitude to the ongoing reforms in the country.

There is no doubt that the development of a public control system in Uzbekistan is impossible without reference to the practice of developed countries with already established democratic traditions and experience. In democratic countries the public control over the legality in state administration is one of the forms of administration of democracy, which implies the implementation of the rights of citizens and public organizations to participate in the management of state affairs, monitoring the activities of government agencies, citizen’s self-government bodies, enterprises, institutions, and their officials whether they observe the legality, the rights and freedoms of citizens and their associations.

An important goal of public control is to establish a substantial interaction between civil society institutions on one hand, and structures of state authority and administration on the other hand, to overcome the distrust of the bureaucracy to the initiatives of civil society, to the mechanisms of public control and independent examination. Establishment of an effective system of social control is the way to building an effective state.

In conformity with a range of international regulatory documents state authorities and administration must take the necessary steps to involve the population in the affairs of common interest through the publication of official documents.

Throughout the world, the right for information rank among the most important rights of the individual. This right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Article 19 of the Declaration binds state bodies, agencies and officials to provide every citizen with an unimpeded opportunity to stick to his views, as well as to search, receive and disseminate information and ideas by any means and regardless of frontiers.

Environmental information takes a special place in the system of ensuring public control over the provision of credible information by state authorities. In 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus the United Nations adopted the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, which has greatly facilitated the freedom of access to information on the state of the environment and its impact on health rights by requiring state authorities to publish official data on the state of the environment.

State authorities are imposed a range of liabilities in conformity with the regulations of the Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society in 2005. Under the Charter, \"States commit themselves to actively use information technology in the public sector and to facilitate the provision of real-time services needed to improve access to government for all citizens.\"

The assessment of the situation in foreign countries shows that the concept of e-government proved itself as the most advanced system of ensuring public control over the provision of accurate information by state authorities. International experience of e-government spotlights two basic models of its adoption.

‘Centralized model’ is used in the UK, France, Ireland, which have national government portals that host all the information about the operation of public authorities, and provide the electronic list of services with a subsequent transition to web pages of the departments, which directly render them. Creation of electronic databases and provision of information is conditioned by the necessity of placement of information resources by subordinate bodies of state authority through the implementation of national e-government development programs. State authorities are required to publish a certain list of information. For providing unreliable information legal entities and executives may be imposed the administrative, financial, disciplinary responsibility, and even criminal liability in case of false or distorted information.

‘Decentralized model’ exists in the U.S. and some EU countries, where an extensive network of departmental electronic databases and information resources is accumulated, and the e-government aims at creation of a single point of access to the data and the provision of public services in electronic form.

The level of transparency of authority increases regardless of the chosen model and applied information and communication technologies in case if the state heads on streamlining of governance mechanisms and provision of services to citizens through the e-government concept. Creation of e-government entails the changes that affect the system of social relations, enhancing convenience, quality of public services and information, as well as reduces the material costs for both the government and citizens.

The general tendency evidences of the increasing level of people’s trust in the new forms of political communication. It grows faster if the government is committed to their involvement in political life through the application of information and communication technologies.

In conclusion, it is worth to note that the developed structure of civil institutions is designed to promote inter-ethnic and inter-religious concord and stability in the country, and to maintain the balance of interests in society, as well as the effective operation of the system of public control over the state authorities and administration. Civil society institutions in collaboration with the independent media should not just express but also shape the public opinion and public awareness.

(Source: “Uzbekistan today” newspaper)