Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Arbitration Court at the CCI of the Republic of Uzbekistan held a scientific and practical seminar in the city of Gulistan on 20 November 2019 within the framework of the USAID project on judicial reform in Uzbekistan on the topic “The role of arbitration courts and mediation in protecting the rights and legitimate interests of business entities”.

The seminar was attended by the chairmen and judges of the Arbitration Courts at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the territorial administration of the CCI in Syrdarya region, senior officials of the economic court, civil court, justice department, prosecutors of Syrdarya region, lawyers, arbitrators, mediators, entrepreneurs as well as media representatives.

At the seminar, legal scholars and leading experts in the field of alternative dispute resolution made reports on the topics: “Alternative dispute resolution in Uzbekistan: legal framework and development stages”, “Mediation in foreign countries: legal framework and practice”, “Features of the consideration of economic disputes, made presentations in arbitration courts ”,“ Advantages of arbitration proceedings and record-keeping in arbitration courts ”,“ The role of mediation in pre-trial proceedings of disputes ”.

The development of legal culture in our society leads, among other things, to an increase in appeals to the courts. One of the effective methods of unloading, overwhelmed by appeals and consideration of court cases for many countries, is today the mediation institute, where two conflicting parties seek a compromise with the help of a professional mediator. Uzbekistan is also moving in this direction.

The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Mediation” regulates relations related to the application of mediation to disputes arising from civil relations, including in connection with entrepreneurial activities, as well as individual labor disputes and disputes arising from family relations. Mediation is carried out on the basis of principles: confidentiality, voluntariness, cooperation and equality of parties, independence.

As noted by the workshop participants, the arbitration courts are one of the main institutions of civil society. In our country, the legal foundations of the organization and activities of arbitration courts have been created. The arbitral tribunal shall resolve disputes arising from civil matters, including, but not limited to, economic disputes in the course of entrepreneurial and other economic activities, with the exception of disputes which, in accordance with the law, cannot be considered by the arbitral tribunal.

The activities of the arbitration courts are carried out on the basis of the legality, independence, confidentiality of the information of the arbitration proceedings, the impartiality of the arbitration judges, the discretion, adversarial and equal rights of the parties to the arbitration.

The advantages of the arbitration court are: the possibility of choosing the arbitration court and the specific arbitrator, the place and time of the dispute; closed trial; impartiality of judges; profitability; efficiency; the existence of a guarantee of the enforcement of arbitral awards.

In his report, the deputy chairman of the Arbitration Court at the CCI of Uzbekistan. professional mediator Rustam Shaimardanov noted that the Arbitration Courts at the Chamber of Commerce and its territorial departments for the ten months of 2019 examined 7,745 cases totaling 233.5 billion soums and 2.3 million US dollars, 875.5 thousand Euros, which is 2478 more than in the same period last year.

In her report, a professional mediator, candidate of legal sciences Dilbakhor Yakubova acquainted the seminar participants in detail with the legal basis and practice of mediation in such countries as Austria, England, Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia, the USA, France, comparing with the legislation of Uzbekistan, Habib Makhkamova - drew attention workshop participants on the role of mediation in resolving disputes with specific examples from their experience.

The seminar was held with discussion and with the active participation of entrepreneurs, and the speakers were asked questions aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of alternative methods of dispute resolution.

At the conclusion of the scientific and practical seminar, recommendations were made to strengthen and expand the scale of propaganda of the benefits of alternative dispute resolution, as well as the activities of arbitration courts; the creation of mediation centers all over the world, and the increase in the number of professional mediators trained.