Uzbekistan Approves New Regulatory Procedure to Enhance Legislative Efficiency

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan has issued a decree titled “On Measures to Strengthen the Responsibility and Initiative of Ministries and Agencies in Enhancing the Effectiveness of Legal Support for Reforms and Regulating Public Relations”, introducing a new framework for regulatory activity aimed at improving its efficiency.

Under the decree, ministries and agencies authorized to implement state policy in their respective areas, in accordance with laws, presidential decrees, and Cabinet of Ministers resolutions, are now permitted to adopt departmental regulations independently. This does not require a separate authorization specifying the power to issue a particular act in higher-level legal documents.

However, departmental regulations are prohibited from including provisions that grant new benefits or impose new responsibilities on individuals or legal entities, unnecessarily complicate existing procedures, restrict citizens’ rights and freedoms, introduce unjustified expenses or payments, new types of taxes and fees, as well as licensing, permitting, or notification requirements—except in cases explicitly provided for by law.

The decree establishes clear timelines for the adoption, legal review, and state registration of departmental acts. Unless longer deadlines are set by law or government resolutions, the period for issuing departmental acts is two months. Public discussion of draft acts is conducted over ten days; if no comments are received within five days, the draft may be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for legal review.

The timeframe for legal review and state registration has been reduced from 30 to 20 days, while the period for additional review of acts has been shortened from 15 to 10 days. Decisions by the Ministry of Justice to reject registration of departmental acts that violate the established requirements are now made within 15 days instead of the previous 30 days.

State registration of departmental acts is carried out by the Ministry of Justice, with the possibility of revising or editing documents to ensure compliance with the Constitution, laws, and other regulations, legislative drafting standards, and to guarantee the validity and appropriateness of referenced norms. The Ministry of Justice will continuously monitor the timely development, adoption, and registration of departmental acts.

Additionally, the requirement to adopt a departmental act within 30 days after coordination with the first of the approving ministries or agencies has been removed. Drafts containing amendments or additions aimed at aligning with new legislative norms may now be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for legal review and registration without prior coordination with other interested bodies.