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Summary: General overview of Uzbekistan's national legal provisions on children's rights, including guidance on how to conduct further research.
National laws on children's rights Status of the CRC in national law Constitution: Part Two of the Uzbek Constitution sets out a number of rights provisions that apply regardless of age, as well as a small number that specifically address the rights of children: Legislation: there is no comprehensive or consolidated Children's Act in Uzbek law, rather legislation of relevance to children can be found throughout a number of Codes, Acts and Presidential Decrees. Legislation of particular relevance to children includes, but is by no means limited to: Legal Research Case Law Case Law Research Compliance with the CRC In depth analysis Violence against children also emerged from the Committee's Observations as a serious concern. The Committee urged the State to remedy the lack of of specific legislation on domestic violence as well as the absence of a law prohibiting corporal punishment in the family and institutions. Noting the numerous reports of torture and ill-treatment of children, the Committee urged the State to clarify its legislation on the prohibition of torture and to conduct investigations into allegations of ill-treatment and to prosecute alleged offenders. The Committee also raised concern over the inadequacy of the justice system, particularly with regards to allegations of ill-treatment of children and the detention of children with adults. The Committee urged the State to undertake systemic reforms, including by establishing juvenile courts staffed with appropriately trained professionals; by ensuring that children are only detained as a measure of last resort, and never with adults; and by taking urgent measures to improve the conditions of detention of children. Current legal reform projects Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any current legal reform projects.
The Preamble to the Constitution of Uzbekistan recognises “the priority of the generally recognised rules of international law” which in principle gives international treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, precedence over any incompatible national law. The International Treaties Act 1995 also requires “the direct and mandatory application” of international treaties and several pieces of domestic legislation, including the Family Code, require the Convention to be applied in place of domestic law where the domestic law contravenes the Convention. The Convention can, in principle, be cited before Uzbekistan's courts, but it is not clear whether it has been cited.
The Uzbek Constitution is available in English through the press service of the President's Office (http://www.press-service.uz/en/section.scm?sectionId=4713#en/content/constitution/konstituciya_uzbekistana/) and in Russian and Uzbek through the website of the Supreme Court (http://supcourt.uz/). The website of the legislature (Oliy Majlis) provides information on legislation that has been adopted in English, Russian and Uzbek (http://www.parliament.gov.uz/en/). The International Labour Organisation website, NATLEX, provides access to a selection of national legislation in English (http://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/natlex_browse.country?p_lang=en&p_country=UZB) as does the World Law Guide (http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/legis/nofr/oeur/lxweuzb.htm). In addition, the GlobaLex Initiative at New York University has published a guide to legal research in Uzbekistan (http://www.nyulawglobal.org/Globalex/Uzbekistan1.htm) and the World Legal Information Institute (http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/2138.html) and the U.S. Law Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/nations/uzbekistan.php) both provide a selection of links to legal and governmental resources.
CRC Jurisprudence
Please contact CRIN if you are aware of any cases in Uzbek courts that reference the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan maintains a website in Russian and Uzbek, but limited case law information is available (http://supcourt.uz/).
In its Concluding Observations of 2006, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that the State had conducted a review of existing legislation on ombudspersons and that the National Human Rights Centre had prepared a number of bills on children's rights issues. However, the Committee noted that much of the legislation had not been enacted and urged the State to complete its efforts to integrate the Convention on the Rights of the Child into national legislation.
In it's 2006 Observations, the Committee also highlighted a number of more specific areas of national law that fell short of the standards set by the Convention. The lack of legislation addressing specific children's rights issues was a persistent theme that emerged from the Observations, particularly with regards to the absence of the principle of the best interests of the child from national legislation and the lack of anti-discrimination legislation.
The State reported in its 2012 Periodic Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child that it was in the process of developing a Juvenile Justice Act.