International Journal for Social Studies
Available at https://edupediapublications.org/journals
ISSN: 2455-3220
Volume 02 Issue 09
September 2016
Development of the legal framework of parliamentary control in
Uzbekistan: the main provisions of the law "On parliamentary control"
Rahim Rasuljonovich Hakimov,
PhD in Law, Associate Professor, (+99890) 9948317,
r.hakimov@parliament.gov.uz;
rrhbonitac@gmail.com
Summary – The article aims at
reviewing the development of the
constitutional and legal framework of
parliamentary control in Uzbekistan. It will
analyze the large-scale, successive reforms
aimed at strengthening the role, authority
and control functions of the Parliament - the
Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan carried out during the years of
independence. Particular attention is paid to
the disclosure of the nature and content of
the Law "Оn Parliamentary Control"
adopted in 2016. Separately, the issues
concerning the subject structure of legal
relations in the sphere of parliamentary
control, the object of parliamentary control,
the permissibility and the limits of
parliamentary control, its forms, as well as
measures taken by the parliament as a result
of the control measures. The paper will
attempt to prove theoretical insight into the
provisions of the Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan "On Parliamentary Control",
identify a number of issues that require
theoretical and practical discussion as well
as thorough scientific study.
Keywords - the principle of
separation of powers, checks and balances,
the democracy, the legislature, the
executive,
parliamentary
control,
constitutional reforms, strengthening the
role and oversight powers of Parliament, the
subjects of parliamentary control, the objects
of parliamentary control, the forms of
parliamentary control, the limits of
parliamentary control, measures response at
the end of the parliamentary control.
Democratic system of government
based on the principle of separation of
powers, cannot exist without transparency
and accountability of public authorities to
the people. This is the essence and the main
requirement of democracy, which is the
basis of any modern state and its legal
system. Consistent implementation of these
principles in the field of state-building and
social development largely depends on the
efficiency of the activities of Parliament,
which is directly formed by the people and
acts on their behalf.
Realizing
its
core
functions:
representative, legislative and control,
parliament becomes the most important
guarantee that the policy of the government,
its actions are effective and commensurate
with the needs, the interests of the people
and society. At the same time one of the
most effective political and legal means to
ensure the rule of law, the effectiveness of
the executive branch, support the optimal
balance
between
the branches
of
government is a parliamentary control.
Over the years of independence,
Uzbekistan has made consistent and gradual
reforms to strengthen the regulatory
functions of the Parliament - the Oliy Majlis
of Uzbekistan - as an important component
of the principle of separation of powers,
checks and balances. The main forms of
parliamentary control are enshrined in the
Constitution since its adoption in 1992. So,
in the implementation of fiscal policy has
provided such an important form of control
as the decision on the proposal of the
Cabinet of Ministers of the State Budget and
supervise its execution.
The amendments introduced in the
Constitution in April 20031 on the basis of a
1
See: Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated
24.04.2003 № 470-II «On introducing amendments
and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of
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national referendum, defined constitutional
and legal bases of formation and functioning
of a bicameral parliament in Uzbekistan
significantly expanded its supervisory
powers. As the most important factor in
ensuring parliamentary oversight, as
enshrined in the Constitution, has served the
norms on the responsibility of the Cabinet of
Ministers in front of the Parliament. To the
joint management of the both chambers of
the Parliament has been attributed an
authority to review and approve the
candidacy of the Prime Minister upon the
proposal by the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan – formerly Parliament had only
approved the decree of the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan on the appointment
of the prime minister. Another major form
of parliamentary control that was introduced
is the review of the Report of the
Accounting Chamber.
The exclusive powers of the Senate the upper house of parliament - was related
to hearing of the reports of the Prosecutor
General, the Chairman of the State
Committee for Nature Protection, Chairman
of the Board of the Central Bank. In
addition, the Senate has the authority to
appoint and release of diplomatic and other
representatives of the Republic of
Uzbekistan in foreign countries, to adopt the
Amnesty Bill.
A logical continuation of reforms in
the area of parliamentary control was the
Concept of further deepening democratic
reforms and formation of civil society in the
country, adopted by the initiative of the first
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in
20102.
Amendments
introduced
in
accordance with the Concept in the
Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan" // Bulletin of Oliy Majlis of the Republic
of Uzbekistan, 2003, number 3-4, Art. 27
2
I.A. Karimov Concept of further deepening
democratic reforms and formation of civil society in
the
country.
URL:
http://www.pressservice.uz/ru/news/
794
/
(reference
date:
06.09.2016).
ISSN: 2455-3220
Volume 02 Issue 09
September 2016
in 20113 and 20144, as well as in a number
of other legislative acts adopted in the field
of state-building, has ensured the further
development of the constitutional and legal
framework of parliamentary control
mechanisms of checks and balances between
the legislative, executive and judicial
branches of government.
In
accordance
with
these
amendments to the Basic Law, there were
introduced the procedure for the nomination
of the Prime Minister by the political party
that obtained the largest number of seats in
the lower house of parliament, the nonconfidence vote to the Prime Minister
(article 98 of the Constitution), the
parliamentary and public control (Art. 78.32
of the Constitution). The Parliament of the
country have been provided with additional
supervisory powers: a hearing and
discussion of reports of the Prime Minister
of the Republic of Uzbekistan on topical
issues of socio-economic development of
the country, consideration of the annual
report of the Cabinet of Ministers on key
issues of social and economic life of the
country, and others.
All these innovations implemented in
recent years have created the necessary
conditions for the adoption in April 2016 of
the Laа “On parliamentary control” 5
(Hereinafter - the Law). This law consists of
28 articles, has incorporated the following
main points:
3
See .: Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated
18.04.2011, № ZRU-284 "On amendments and
additions to certain articles of the Constitution
(Articles 78, 80, 93, 96 and 98)" // "Bulletin of Oliy
Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan », 2011, № 4, p.
102
4
See .: Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated
04.16.2014, № ZRU-366 "On amendments and
additions to certain articles of the Constitution
(Articles 32, 78, 93, 98, 103 and 117)" // " Bulletin
Oliy Majlis the Republic of Uzbekistan ", 2014, N 4,
p. 85
5
See .: Republic of Uzbekistan Act of 04.11.2016, №
ZRU-403 "On parliamentary control" // "Collection
of the legislation of Uzbekistan", April 18, 2016,
№15, Art. 141
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International Journal for Social Studies
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The first. The law clearly defines the
subject structure of legal relations in the
implementation of parliamentary control. In
particular, the subjects of parliamentary
control defined are: The Legislative
Chamber of the Oliy Majlis; The Senate of
the Oliy Majlis; committees, commissions of
the Legislative Chamber and the Senate;
factions
of
political
parties
and
parliamentary groups in the Legislative
Chamber; Deputies of the Legislative
Chamber; members of the Senate, as well as
the Commissioner of the Oliy Majlis of the
Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights
(Ombudsman).
Second. The Law regulates in detail
questions about the object of parliamentary
control. Also, it clarifies the coverage of the
parliamentary control. Article 4 of the Law
established that the main objective of the
parliamentary control is to oversee the work
of the government and management bodies
and their officials on the implementation of
the Constitution and laws of the Republic of
Uzbekistan, decisions of the chambers of the
Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
state
programs,
as
well
as
the
implementation of related tasks and
functions.
Analysis of the political and legal
research shows that the most entrenched is
the idea of parliamentary control, as an
activity of the parliament to oversight the
activities of executive bodies. In particular,
the American scholar Joel Aberbah writes:
“I define [oversight] as congressional revieа
of the actions of federal departments,
agencies, and commissions, and of the
programs and policies they administer,
including review that takes place during
program and policy implementation as well
as afterаard”6.
International experience in the
development of parliamentary shows that
unreasonable, be it political or legal,
expansion or contraction of the control
6
Joel D. Aberbach, Keeping a Watchful Eye: The
Politics of Congressional Oversight (Washington,
DC: The Brookings Institution, 1990), p. 2.
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Volume 02 Issue 09
September 2016
powers of parliament can disrupt the balance
between the branches of government, result
in “the invasion” of each other's
responsibilities with all the ensuing negative
consequences. It is obvious, for example,
that through the decision on the results of
the parliamentary hearings on the course of
implementation of laws, government
programs in their respective areas of
economic development, the Parliament
should not replace the management body.
In this regard, the Law states that the
objective of parliamentary control cannot be
an activity related the overseeing the
specific cases and materials that are under
consideration of agencies, the interfering in
the routine operational activities of
investigation bureaus, the courts, as well as
the materials of enforcement and notary
proceedings. It was determined that in the
exercise of parliamentary control legislative
body should not interfere in the activities of
bodies of state power and administration,
other organizations and their officials
carried out within their legitimate authority.
The study of foreign experience
shows that the control limits are defined by
two criteria or methods: laws where
parliamentary control object clearly defined
(legal aspect) and the scope of the principle
of separation of powers, which clearly limits
the scope of the constitutional powers of the
parliament, the executive (political-legal
aspect).
Third. The law clearly defines the
forms of parliamentary control. Forms of
parliamentary control are the outward
expression of the political and legal content,
which are understood as a set of internal
components and processes that characterize
parliamentary control, as a public-law
institution, the most important function of
parliament, an effective mechanism in the
system of checks and balances between the
branches of government.
The content of this political and legal
mechanism composed under the influence of
objective laws resulting from the degree of
development of the society and its political
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International Journal for Social Studies
Available at https://edupediapublications.org/journals
ISSN: 2455-3220
Volume 02 Issue 09
September 2016
institutions, and a number of other factors.
Needless to state, the content of this
phenomenon, i.e., parliamentary control,
determines the choice of one or another of
its forms. Although the form of any
phenomenon
or
process
(including
parliamentary
control)
is
relatively
independent, defining a place in this unity of
form and content belongs to the last7.
If these or other species that form the
parliamentary control are fixed in law
random, without regard to the state of the
content, the level of development of the
political and legal institution, it is the
international practice, are these forms, or do
not work, are not in demand, or a negative
impact on order interaction between the
legislative and executive branches of
government.
In view of the above postulate, the
Law explicitly stated thirteen basic forms of
parliamentary control. These include: the
adoption of the state budget; consideration
of the progress of its implementation;
consideration of the annual report of the
Cabinet of Ministers on key issues of social
and economic life of the country; hearing
the report of the Prime Minister on the
topical
issues
of
socio-economic
development of the country; hearing at the
sessions of the Legislative Chamber of the
Senate to the Government members on their
activities; hearing the report of the
Accounting Chamber; hearing the report of
the Chairman of the State Committee of the
Republic of Uzbekistan for Nature
Protection; hearing the report of the
Chairman of the Board of Central Bank of
the Republic of Uzbekistan; Parliamentary
deputy and inquiries; hearing the
committees of the Legislative Chamber,
Senate managers of state agencies and
administration; study committees of the
Legislative Chamber, the Senate of the state
of enforcement of legislation, enforcement
and monitoring of the adoption of the
regulations;
parliamentary
inquiry;
implementation of parliamentary control
over the activity of the prosecutor's office
and others.
Ensuring the rule of law in society,
improving the efficiency of public
administration, the maintenance of the
stability of state power is impossible without
effective law enforcement. On this basis, the
Law (Article 19), pays special attention to
the legislative establishment, the definition
of the order of the parliamentary control
over the activity of the Prosecutor's Office.
It
was
established
that for
the
implementation of parliamentary control
over the activities of prosecutors, to improve
the effectiveness of their efforts to ensure
the rule of law in the country, to protect the
rights and freedoms of citizens, interests of
society and the state by the chambers of the
Oliy Majlis, Senate commission is created to
monitor the activities of the prosecutor’s
office. Senate annually at its meeting
considers the report of the Prosecutor
General of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Fourth. The most important sign of
the effectiveness of parliamentary control is
the possibility of the Parliament on the
results of audits of sanctions, i.e. various
measures of the parliamentary response,
entailing negative consequences of the
objective of parliamentary control, failed to
comply with legal requirements or
efficiency of the policy of the state (noconfidence vote, the resolution of censure,
etc.). It emphasizes the special role of the
parliamentary
opposition
in
the
implementation of this function8.
According A.Zubareva, one of the
purposes of parliamentary control is the
focus of relevant government agencies and
officials
on
identified
during
the
parliamentary control deficiencies to correct
7
8
J. Tulenov system of laws and categories of
dialectics. - Tashkent: Uzbekistan, 1974. - P. 295296.
Pelizzo R., Stapenhurst R. and Olson D. Trends in
parliamentary oversight. World Bank Institute (2004)
// URL: http://www.siteresources.worldbank.org
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International Journal for Social Studies
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them and bring the perpetrators to justice in
accordance with the current legislation9.
German scholar V.Steffani considers
that parliamentary control is the process of
verifying the parliamentary government and
administration, with the direct (the
parliamentary majority) and / or indirect (the
opposition) the possibility of its approval or,
on the contrary, criticism, evaluation, and
application of sanctions or mandatory in
legal terms the adoption of the government
decision10.
According to the American expert
Walter J. Oleszek "A fundamental objective
of congressional oversight is to hold
executive officials accountable for the
implementation of delegated authority. This
objective is especially important given the
huge expansion of executive influence in the
modern era "11.
Based on the above statements, it
should be noted that the law clearly defined
the necessary legal basis for the adoption of
concrete measures of response by the results
of the parliamentary control. So, it is
established (Article 22 of the law) that the
results of parliamentary control parliament
within its power can:
- submit to the President of the
Republic of Uzbekistan for the resignation
of the Government member;
- make to the relevant public
authorities proposals and recommendations
for the adoption of measures aimed at
improving the efficiency of enforcement of
legislation, government programs, the
implementation of their tasks and functions;
9
Zubarev A.S. Control of the State Duma of the
Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation for the
activities of federal executive bodies: Diss. ... Cand.
jurid. Sciences. - Belgorod: BGNIU, 2015. - S. 11.
10
Steffani W.F. Verfahren und Wirkungen der
Parlamentarischen Kontrolle // Parlamentsrecht und
Parlamentspraxis in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
– Berlin; N. Y., 1989. – S. 1325.
11
Walter J. Oleszek. Congressional Oversight: An
Overview //
Congressional Research Service. 75700 URL: http://www.crs.gov.R41079 ( т
р щ ия: 09.06.2016).
ISSN: 2455-3220
Volume 02 Issue 09
September 2016
- return in the prescribed manner to
public authorities reports made by them,
reports, messages and other materials on
completion indicating the comments and
suggestions thereon;
- send the materials of the
parliamentary control in the authorized state
bodies for consideration in accordance with
their powers;
- refer to the relevant government
authorities and officials to take action on the
immediate suppression of the detected
violations of the rights and lawful interests
of citizens or other violations of the law;
- make to the relevant public
authorities
suggestions
and
recommendations to prosecute officials who
release them from office;
- initiate the drafting of a new act of
legislation or revision of existing legislative
acts;
- publish the results of parliamentary
control.
On the executive bodies of state
power the following duties imposed (Article
23 of the Law):
to ensure the review and execution of
decisions taken by the subjects of
parliamentary control;
to develop the necessary measures
and (or) to take decisions aimed at
implementing
the
proposals
and
recommendations developed based on the
results of parliamentary control;
to
inform
the
subjects
of
parliamentary control of the outcome of the
proposals and recommendations and action
taken thereon;
to take action against officials of the
government and management bodies for
violation of the law.
In general, it should be stressed that
the adoption of the Laа “On parliamentary
control” has become a logical continuation
of the large-scale reforms and will
contribute to strengthening the constitutional
and legal capacity of the Parliament in the
implementation of its tasks, strengthening
and development of the democratic
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International Journal for Social Studies
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foundations of statehood and parliamentary
system in the country. The process of
implementing the provisions of the Law in
national legislation and legal practice
requires a thorough, fundamental theoretical
scrutiny to disclosure of the nature,
substance and content of the principles,
mechanisms, forms and modern methods of
implementation of supervisory authority of
the chambers of the Oliy Majlis, as well as
to conduct a broad outreach to bring the
spirit and content of this law among the
performers and the public.
References
1. Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan dated 24.04.2003 № 470-II «On
introducing amendments and additions to
the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan" // Bulletin of Oliy Majlis of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, 2003, number 3-4,
Art. 27
2. Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan dated 18.04.2011, № ZRU-284
"On amendments and additions to certain
articles of the Constitution (Articles 78, 80,
93, 96 and 98)" // "Bulletin of Oliy Majlis of
the Republic of Uzbekistan », 2011, № 4, p.
102
3. Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan dated 04.16.2014, № ZRU-366
"On amendments and additions to certain
articles of the Constitution (Articles 32, 78,
93, 98, 103 and 117)" // " Bulletin Oliy
Majlis the Republic of Uzbekistan ", 2014,
N 4, p. 85
4. Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan dated 04.11.2016, № ZRU-403
"On parliamentary control" // "Collection of
the legislation of Uzbekistan", April 18,
2016, №15, Art. 141
5. I.A. Karimov Concept of further
deepening
democratic
reforms
and
formation of civil society in the country.
URL: http://www.press-service.uz/ru/news/
794 /
6. Joel D. Aberbach, Keeping a
Watchful Eye: The Politics of Congressional
ISSN: 2455-3220
Volume 02 Issue 09
September 2016
Oversight (Washington, DC: The Brookings
Institution, 1990). – Р.2.
7. J. Tulenov system of laws and
categories of dialectics. - Tashkent:
Uzbekistan, 1974. - P. 295-296.
8. Pelizzo R., Stapenhurst R. and
Olson D. Trends in parliamentary oversight.
World Bank Institute (2004) // URL:
http://www.siteresources.worldbank.org
9. Zubarev A.S. Control of the
State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the
Russian Federation for the activities of
federal executive bodies: Diss. ... Cand.
jurid. Sciences. - Belgorod: BGNIU, 2015. P. 11.
10. Steffani W.F. Verfahren und
Wirkungen der Parlamentarischen Kontrolle
// Parlamentsrecht und Parlamentspraxis in
der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. – Berlin;
N. Y., 1989. – S. 1325.
11. Walter
J.
Oleszek.
Congressional Oversight: An Overview //
Congressional Research Service. 7-5700
URL: http://www.crs.gov.R41079
Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/IJSS/
P a g e | 39
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