Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- From 22 May to 6 June 2020, a draft law "On State Civil Service" was published for discussion.

During this period, about 220 proposals and comments were received. The bill caused wide resonance in social networks. This was reported by the department of public relations of the Ministry of Justice.

During a press conference held on 11 June at the Ministry of Justice, the developers of the draft law, specialists of authorized bodies clarified the essence and significance of the proposed document, commented on the proposals received from citizens. The event was attended by representatives of the Civil Service Development Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the General Prosecutor's Office, and the Ministry of Justice.

It was noted that this draft law was developed in order to create legal conditions for regulating relations in the field of public civil service.

At the same time, there is no direct law that provides comprehensive legal regulation of the state civil service, including the procedures for open independent competitive selection of candidates, as well as defining criteria for assessing the performance and competence of state civil servants, and requirements for improving their qualifications.

In accordance with the priority areas for further improvement and reform of the state civil service, determined by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 3 October 2019, as well as taking into account international best practices, recommendations of authoritative international organizations, and national experts, a draft Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On state civil service” has been prepared.

Article 3 of the draft law provides that its norms do not apply or partially apply to a separate category of officials due to the specifics of their legal status, the procedure for election (appointment) and activities determined by the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and relevant laws (members of Parliament, deputies of representative bodies, judges, members of the Government, etc.). In world practice, these officials are political servants, not civil servants.

Compared to civil servants, labor legislation does not always apply to government political positions, as they are elected by the people or deputies or appointed by higher authorities, and can be removed from office on grounds not provided for in labor legislation. In other words, the rules governing civil service are not applicable to political employees.

According to experts, the bill does not contain rules that exclude any categories of civil servants from the system of mandatory declaration of income and property. Article 3 of the draft defines only the scope of its application, since the project, along with the declaration, regulates a wide range of other issues of public service. However, this in no way indicates the exclusion of any category of officials from the mandatory declaration system or other general principles of civil service. In addition, the draft provides that in relation to members of the Government, the Chairman and members of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, hokims, it is applied to the extent not regulated by other legislative acts.

World experience shows that the declaration of income and property of civil servants is regulated in independent legislative acts or acts related to the fight against corruption. In accordance with the Decree of the President dated October 3, 2019 “On measures to radically improve the personnel policy and the system of public civil service in the Republic of Uzbekistan”, normative and legal acts are being prepared for the consistent implementation of a system for mandatory declaration by state employees of their income and property.

During the event, it was emphasized that, taking into account public opinion and foreign experience, the provisions of the bill will be revised, allowing people who are closely related to hold positions in the same state institutions if their service is connected with the direct subordination or control of one of them to another. There is an additional study of questions about the right of officials and their families to open accounts with foreign banks, store valuables and own real estate abroad.

Specialists answered questions from journalists and bloggers on the draft law.