The essence and significance of constitutional reform
On April 20, 2023, Uzagrosugurta Joint Stock Company held a round table on the topic "The essence and significance of constitutional reforms" in order to convey the essence of the updated Constitution to the employees of the system, to inform about the changes being made.
The event was attended by a deputy of the Legislative Chamber of the Supreme Assembly, Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Judicial Affairs Committee.
As noted, on the basis of the idea "The people should be the sole source and author of the Constitution", a general discussion of the constitutional bill was held, more than 220 thousand proposals for its improvement were received from the entire population, and every fourth of them received a place from the government. project.
The constitutional bill was discussed several times with the participation of international experts and experts, passed about 10 foreign and international examinations, which were also supported by them.
For the first time, the Constitution establishes as an immutable rule that Uzbekistan is a sovereign, democratic, legal and social State. It is noteworthy that this strict norm is aimed at preserving and further strengthening the independence of our native country, the dynamic continuation of reforms based on the principle of "in the name of man" and ensuring the rule of law.
At the same time, it is established that the uncertainties arising between a person and state bodies should be interpreted in favor of a person, legitimate measures of influence should be sufficient and proportionate to achieve a legitimate goal. These provisions ensure the priority of human rights, increase the responsibility of State bodies for fulfilling their tasks in accordance with human rights and prevent the application of legal measures to a person that go beyond the norm.
In addition, on the basis of the principle of "Man-society-State" in the draft, the norms on human rights are increased by about 3.5 times. In particular, the criminal procedure introduces the norm that everyone has the right to freedom and personal inviolability, that everyone has the right to keep correspondence, telephone conversations, mail, electronic and other messages secret, that this right is limited and that a search of a home is allowed only on the basis of a court decision.
It was noted that the designation of Uzbekistan as a welfare state – from now on, the priority policy of the state will be aimed at supporting the socially unprotected or disadvantaged stratum, at mitigating social inequality in education, healthcare, social services and society as a whole.
The Constitution tripled the norms on the social obligations of the state, in particular, it is established that the state will receive a number of new obligations to itself in order to reduce poverty, ensure employment, and protect against unemployment.
In particular, it introduces the obligation of the State to create conditions under which everyone has the right to housing, to promote the construction of housing and to exercise the right to housing. As an alternative, it is recognized that the norms related to the preservation of public health have increased 4 times, in particular, for the first time, the right of every person to maintain their health, as well as the right of the population to use guaranteed free medical services at the constitutional level, is enshrined.
The new version of the Constitution guarantees free higher education at the expense of the State on a competitive basis. Separately, it was noted that until 2017, the number of state grants for admission to universities was only decreasing, over the past six years the situation in this regard has completely changed, the number of grants has increased by 2 times to 40 thousand.
At the same time, the organization of inclusive education and upbringing in educational institutions for children with special needs, the establishment of their education in ordinary schools, among other things, is a practical expression of the principle of human dignity in the new Uzbekistan.
The draft also establishes that the State provides conditions for the development of preschool education and upbringing, and primary vocational education is free. During the discussion, it was noted that the coverage of children in kindergarten has increased from 27% to 70% over the past six years, and the new norms that are being introduced into the Constitution allow us to reach new frontiers in this regard.
Particular attention is paid to the directions of development of the national economy and entrepreneurship, improvement of the investment climate in the country and further strengthening of property protection, development of market relations by the state, creation of conditions for fair competition, ensuring a favorable business and investment climate, ensuring the protection of the inviolability of private property.
The project strengthens guarantees in the field of human rights and freedoms, the rights of children, youth, and family issues. In particular, taking care of youth, children, women, and the family is proclaimed the most important task of the state and society. The State ensures the protection of the personal, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of young people.
It is important that the project includes a separate chapter dedicated to the problem of youth, which is more than 18 million people of our population.
The foundations of the organization of state power, the status of the legislative and executive branches of government, their relationships are radically improved, the balance between the highest bodies of state power, balance is strengthened. The powers of the Parliament are being strengthened and the status of the Senate as a territorial representative chamber is being raised.
They stressed that strengthening guarantees of judicial independence in the new version of the Constitution, the inviolability of judges and non-accountability in certain cases, the introduction of important norms to ensure their safety, would be an important guarantee of the full and independent administration of justice.
The constitutional norm that the financing of the activities of the courts, in particular, should be carried out only from the State budget, and this should ensure the possibility of full, independent administration of justice, serves to form a truly fair and independent judicial system.
The participants of the meeting recognized that the new version of the Constitution will create the foundations of a social, democratic-legal and truly nation-friendly statehood, increase the well-being of the population, further strengthen human rights and interests, dignity and become an important factor in the liberalization of all spheres of life, as well as mark the beginning of a new era in the development of the New Uzbekistan.
As a result of these amendments and additions, the number of articles of the Constitution has increased from the current 128 to 155, and the volume of norms has increased by 65 percent. It was noted that the number and content of these amendments and additions indicate the need to adopt a new version of the Constitution.
At the end of the event, detailed answers were given to the questions asked by the participants and a call was made to actively participate in the referendum to be held on April 30, 2023.