Within the framework of “Promoting transparency and action against economic crime” Project, the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division is aiming to raise awareness among the authorities of Uzbekistan on Council of Europe conventions and legal instruments in the field of criminal law. In this regard, following the request from the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan, the Economic Crime and Cooperation Division organised a Conference on “Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters” on 23 July 2021.

The event gathered representatives from the Department for Combating Economic Crimes and the International Legal Department of General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as representatives from regional prosecutor’s offices. Other relevant state institutions were also present, such as the Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Highest Judicial Council.

At the Conference participants were familiarised with the provisions of the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLA Convention) and its Additional Protocols. The issues of particular interest for Uzbek authorities were those related to the accession process for non-member states, the process of submitting mutual legal assistance (MLA) requests and the grounds for their refusal.

In preparation for the Conference, the project has also conducted a legal review of Uzbekistan’s current legislative framework (including draft Criminal Code and Criminal Procedural Code with its latest amendments), comparing it to the provisions of the MLA Convention and its Additional Protocols. The Conference allowed therefore an exchange on expert recommendations provided to the authorities in the legal review, such as the inclusion in the Criminal Procedure Code of an indicative list of the forms of assistance in criminal matters, the establishment of concrete grounds for possible refusal to provide mutual assistance in conformity with the international standards, the inclusion of provisions dealing with the specific procedural rules applied to different forms of assistance, including hearing by video conference, hearing by telephone conference, setting-up of joint investigation teams, etc.

The Economic Crime and Cooperation Division will further assist the authorities of Uzbekistan in this area, by organising follow-up trainings for relevant stakeholders on submitting MLA requests. The project will also support the General Prosecutor’s Office in developing a model bilateral agreement on mutual legal assistance.

This activity was organised in the framework of the project “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime”, part of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The project is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan.