The CA TAEC project, upon a request by the stakeholders, is supporting the authorities of Uzbekistan in revising and improving the legal framework on establishment and regulation of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

This activity falls within ongoing efforts of Uzbekistan to strengthen the anti-corruption system of the country. The impetus to this process was given through a decree “On Additional Measures for Overhauling the System of Prevention of Corruption in the Republic of Uzbekistan” issued by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in June 2020; the decree established the ACA and outlined the crucial issues for further development of the anti-corruption legislation.

The project provided an analysis of the current legislative framework on corruption prevention in Uzbekistan and formulated recommendations on its harmonisation with international standards, on the forthcoming legislation on ACA and on other necessary legislative changes.

The findings of the analysis were presented and discussed at a Webinar on the “Legal framework on the creation and regulation of the Anti-Corruption Agency in Uzbekistan” which took place on 12 January 2021. The activity brought together the authorities of Uzbekistan involved in anti-corruption activities and, in particular, in the legislative process – the Senate and the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Academy of General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Tax Committee, the State Customs Committee, Institute for Legislative Problems and Parliamentary Studies under the Oliy Majlis, and others.

The webinar allowed an exchange on the existing good practices of ACAs granted with the function of conducting anti-corruption examination of normative legal acts, as well as existing criteria of measuring the effectiveness of ACA’s performance.

Some of the key recommendations addressed to the Uzbek authorities were the need to provide the ACA with a strong mandate for conducting anti-corruption expertise, research, awareness-raising and education; to describe the procedure for the appointment and dismissal of the Agency’s director and of its deputies; to indicate the organisational structure and clarify the procedures for staff selection. Significant recommendations were also made with regard to the autonomy of the ACA’s budget, such as the need to introduce provisions allowing the ACA to submit its yearly budget proposal to Parliament or President and once approved – to submit it to the Ministry of Finance who should integrate it the overall budget law for the respective year. Finally, the experts underlined the importance of setting mechanisms for ACA’s interaction with civil society institutions; introducing the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the Agency’s activities; and prescribing the powers of the Agency as the responsible body for collecting, inspecting and publishing officials’ declarations of income, property and conflict of interest.

The authorities of Uzbekistan underlined that the recommendations provided are being taken into account in drafting legislation. They also confirmed that high-level discussions on accession of Uzbekistan to GRECO are underway.

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.