The Senate of Uzbekistan approved the law “On Conflict of Interest”

According to the report of “Gazeta.uz”, the senators of Uzbekistan approved the law “On Conflict of Interests”. A requirement to declare a conflict of interest is introduced. Finally, responsibility for this offense is established. “It is the conflict of interest that is considered the starting point of corruption situations in government agencies,” said the head of the Senate.

The Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan at the 41st plenary session on Thursday approved the law “On Conflict of Interest”. This was reported to Gazeta.uz by the press service of the Senate.

The speeches at the meeting said that despite the reforms in the field of combating corruption, problems persist in some areas. In particular, a number of legislative acts contain provisions on a conflict of interest, but there are no clear mechanisms for their implementation and control in state bodies and institutions.

The Law “On Combating Corruption” establishes that employees of state bodies who have violated the requirements for preventing or eliminating conflicts of interest, as well as their leaders, are liable in accordance with the law, but legislative acts do not provide for liability measures.

In this area, there is also no authorized body that forms a unified practice. The practice of notification of a conflict of interest has not been established.

The Law “On Conflict of Interest” eliminates these problems and is aimed at regulating relations in the field of conflict of interest that give rise to corruption situations.

Speaker of the Senate Tanzila Narbaeva, speaking at the meeting, said: “We often see in the media, social networks, one of the situations that attract the most attention and cause the most public discontent is that despite the prohibition of cases of conflict of interest in the current legislation, for there were no legal consequences.”

“From now on, this law in the direction of combating corruption closes the gaps associated with a conflict of interest, specific regulatory mechanisms are defined in this area,” she noted.

“The legal consequences of a conflict of interest are being established, that is, decisions and agreements adopted and signed in the conditions of a conflict of interest can be canceled by a court decision,” said Tanzila Narbayeva.

She expressed confidence that this will serve to reduce cases of conflict of interest and intensify efforts to combat corruption in the country. “After all, it is the conflict of interest that is considered the starting point of corruption situations in state bodies,” the head of the Senate noted.

The law defines the concept of a conflict of interest, the duties of civil servants, as well as specific mechanisms for its regulation.

The law applies to state bodies and local government bodies, state institutions, state unitary enterprises, state trust funds, as well as legal entities in the authorized capital of which the share of state bodies or other organizations is 50% or more.

It is also stipulated that close relatives of an employee of a government agency or other organization, a legal entity, shares or shares of the authorized capital of which are owned by an employee of a government agency or other organization and (or) his close relatives, are related persons of an employee of a government organization.

The Anti-Corruption Agency, ethics commissions of state organizations, personnel departments and internal anti-corruption control departments have been identified as bodies regulating relations related to a conflict of interest.

The law establishes norms for the prevention of conflicts of interest in relation to employees of a state organization, the legal consequences of violation of the requirements for a conflict of interest, the grounds for invalidating transactions with a conflict of interest in court, and measures of responsibility for allowing a conflict of interest.

For failure to report a conflict of interest, a fine is set for civil servants in the amount of from 3 to 5 basic settlement units, and for officials who do not resolve these situations – from 5 to 10 BRC.

Information about a conflict of interest will have to be declared.