Uzbekistan Guarantees Court Budgets Can Never Be Cut

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan has enacted legislation making it legally impossible to reduce court funding regardless of economic conditions or budget deficits — a structural guarantee of judicial financial independence that lawmakers say brings the country in line with international rule-of-law standards.

The Law "On the Financing of Judicial Bodies" was approved at a plenary session of the Oliy Majlis Senate, establishing exclusive state budget financing for all courts and embedding fiscal protections directly into the Budget Code.

The law's most consequential provision is a hard prohibition on reducing allocations to judicial bodies — insulated from austerity measures, deficit pressures, or shifting economic circumstances. An additional guarantee ensures that annual court funding cannot fall below the level of the preceding year, effectively creating a ratchet mechanism that locks in baseline judicial resources over time.

Under the new financing architecture, the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and the Higher Judicial Council will independently manage their allocated funds, while financing for the network of lower courts will flow through a dedicated Court Support Department — a structural separation designed to reduce administrative bottlenecks and outside interference in resource allocation.

The legislation also amends the Law on Courts to mandate that each court must be provided with a dedicated building, a security system, and transport — establishing minimum infrastructure standards that carry the force of law rather than administrative guidance.

Senators framed the measures as reinforcing judicial independence, improving material conditions for judges and court staff, and aligning Uzbekistan's justice system with international benchmarks for an independent judiciary — a theme consistent with a broader package of judicial reform legislation moving through the Oliy Majlis this session.