Issues of implementation international legal standarts in the field of combatting corruption in the Republic of Uzbekistan
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan regularly analyzes the places and results of Uzbekistan in international ratings and indices.
On January 25, 2022, the next edition of the "Corruption Perception Index" published by the international non-governmental organization "Transparency International" was announced.
Due to the fact that the results of the positive reforms implemented in the fight against corruption were recognized by the international community, the indicators of our country recorded positive growth dynamics in the next edition of the Index. Uzbekistan took 140th place among 180 countries with 28 points and improved its indicators by 6 more points (in the report published in 2021, it took 146th place with 26 points).
For information: "Transparency International" is an international non-governmental organization for fighting corruption and researching the level of corruption. The Corruption Perception Index has been published by this organization since 1995.
Indicators of Uzbekistan in the index were calculated based on 7 independent information sources, in which 2 information sources recorded a significant positive increase in the ratings given for our country.
In the Global Risk Index of Countries published by IHS Markit, Uzbekistan's rating has improved by 13 points compared to last year (2020 - 22 points,
2021 - 35 points).
For information: Individuals/companies are assessed for the risk of bribery or other corrupt practices in doing business, securing high-level deals, and issuing permits for small-scale product import/export or routine paperwork.
The rating given to Uzbekistan within the framework of the "Different Aspects of Democracy Project" of the University of Notre Dame (USA) and the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) has improved by 1 point (2020 - 25 points,
2021 - 26 points).
For information: the level of political corruption is estimated.
Also, the evaluations given to Uzbekistan in the remaining 5 sources of the index remained almost unchanged.
- 24 points based on the Index of Countries in Transition by Freedom House;
For information: the implementation of effective anti-corruption initiatives, state intervention in the economy, the level of bureaucratic regulation, the presence of restrictions on the participation of civil servants in economic life, the presence of laws on the disclosure of financial information and conflicts of interest, vacancies and agreements, the level of fight against corruption among officials and civil servants, the safety of journalists and activists specializing in the topic of corruption, coverage of the topic of corruption in the mass media, and the level of public dissatisfaction with corruption cases are evaluated.
- 20 points based on the indicators of the Country Risk Service of the Economist Intelligence Unit;
For information: prosecution of civil servants who have abused their official duties, efficiency of activities on prevention of corruption is evaluated.
- Based on the World Bank's country policy and institutional assessment data - 27 points are given;
For information: transparency, accountability, and the level of corruption in the public sector, the level of accountability of leaders and civil servants to supervisory bodies regarding their service obligations; level of civil society's open use of socio-political information; the probability of a narrow circle of individuals seeking financial gain to infiltrate the government is assessed.
- Based on the index of the rule of law of the World Justice Project organization - 36 points were given (a decrease of 1 point compared to last year).
For information: the degree of use of the powers of the legislative, executive, judiciary and law enforcement bodies for personal purposes is evaluated.
It should be noted that Uzbekistan was the only country in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which is considered as a separate region within the index, whose indicators changed in a positive direction.
The analysis of our country's indicators in the index over the last ten years shows that during this period, the grades given to Uzbekistan have improved by
11 points and our positions have increased by 30 points.
Also, the following anti-corruption reforms implemented in our country in recent years led to the improvement of our indicators in the index:
- In 2017, the adoption of the law "On Combating Corruption" and implementation of the main directions of activity in the field and advanced mechanisms of combating corruption into national legislation in this law;
- that 3 periodical state programs have been approved and consistently implemented since the adoption of the above law;
- The establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Council and Anti-Corruption Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan;
- The adoption of 3 Presidential Decrees in 2021, which define specific measures aimed at fighting corruption.
For this reason, this report emphasizes the importance of the reforms implemented in our country in Central Asia in the field of democratization of society, fight against corruption and abuse of official powers in state institutions.
It should be noted that in this report, it is recommended that Uzbekistan continue reforms in this field at a faster pace, as well as prevent threats to the freedom of civil society activists.
Based on the above, reforms in the field of combating corruption are being consistently continued by the responsible state bodies.
Javokhir Abdullaev – Lead consultant,
Department for work with international ratings and indices,
the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan
