Local Governance Reform

The Centre’s work on local governance reform is being consolidated in a collection of papers that brings together the conceptual, comparative, and strategic dimensions of the agenda. The volume addresses the foundational distinctions between local governance and local self-governance, surveys the main models of local governance, defines the basic model appropriate for Uzbekistan's reform, and examines the concepts of decentralisation and deconcentration. Taking the post-Soviet system as its starting point, it offers a comparative review of relevant foreign experience and draws targeted lessons from reforms across other post-Soviet states. On this basis, the collection identifies the problematic issues arising in the development of the Reform Concept and articulates a proposed reform strategy. The volume also includes, as an appendix, the Concept for the Development of Local Representative Bodies of Power of Uzbekistan until 2030.

The doctrinal leadership of the Centre in this area was secured through a series of publications and a roundtable held at the Academy of Public Policy and Administration in late 2024. Key analytical materials, including the policy brief and roundtable outputs, were subsequently delivered to the Presidential Administration, the Agency for Strategic Reforms, the Academy of Public Policy and Administration, and the Institute of Legislation and Legal Policy. Building on this, in February, the ILLP requested an expert review of the draft Decentralisation Concept prepared under a state commission in 2025. Although the reform is presently proceeding along what the Centre regards as a flawed course, the combination of acute underlying problems and a shortage of expertise makes it highly probable that current approaches will be revisited — a development for which the Laboratory is well positioned to contribute.

Reform of Administrative Proceedings

The Laboratory's engagement in this area responds to a convergence of policy and doctrinal demands. Presidential Decree No. PP-33 of 30 January 2025 set a clear reform mandate, while the drafting of the new edition of the Code of Administrative Proceedings (CAP) proved doctrinally complex and exposed an acute shortage of expert competencies within the Interagency Commission tasked with improving the relevant legislation. Against this background, the Lab had already established working channels with all principal stakeholders — the Interagency Commission, the Presidential Administration, and the Supreme Court — positioning it to contribute substantively to the reform process.

The work has produced a coherent body of outputs combining public communication, expert review, and original drafting. Two publications in Gazeta.uz successfully reached their target audience, and the Laboratory delivered expert assessments both of the Concept for improving legislation on administrative court proceedings and of the draft new edition of the CAP prepared by the Interagency Commission. In parallel, the Lab developed an alternative draft of amendments and additions to the CAP in demo form, and produced a reference and methodological guide titled Reform of Administrative Court Proceedings in Uzbekistan in Light of Contemporary Scientific Doctrine. These outputs were complemented by a roundtable convening key representatives of the Supreme Court.

The guide has been distributed among policymakers in the Presidential Administration, the Institute of Legislation and Legal Policy, and the Supreme Court, consolidating doctrinal thought leadership achieved through the publications, the methodological guide, and the roundtable.

Assessment of the National Integrity System

This workstream is anchored in Uzbekistan’s first-ever National Integrity System Assessment (NISA), conducted by Transparency International, in which experts of the Laboratory participated directly in the 2025 study. This engagement has been reinforced by close cooperation with a wide network of key institutions — the Oliy Majlis, the Cabinet of Ministers, the Supreme Court, the Higher School of Judges, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Anti-Corruption Agency — providing both the evidentiary base and the institutional reach needed for substantive reform work.

The Laboratory's outputs in this area combine analytical publications with applied convening. Two articles are forthcoming in Gazeta.uz: “Current Issues of National Integrity System Assessment in Uzbekistan” and “Principles and Institutions of the Law on Administrative Procedures: Their Significance and Role in Shaping the National Anti-Corruption System”.

Through its participation in NISA and the deliberate synergy with administrative law reform, the Lab has secured a significant position within the broader anti-corruption agenda. The NISA recommendations, together with the completion of administrative procedure and justice reforms, have prepared the ground for decisive initiatives and for doctrinal leadership in this field. With the two forthcoming publications and the planned roundtable, this doctrinal leadership is expected to be consolidated.

Reform of Pre-Trial Administrative Justice

This workstream rests on a clear legal and institutional mandate. Presidential Decree No. UP-80 of 24 May 2024 and Presidential Resolution No. PP-188 of 19 May 2025 set the strategic direction, operationalised through a legal experiment on the pre-trial resolution of administrative disputes concerning selected public services in Tashkent, conducted under the Ministry of Justice. The CSPL brought substantial prior capacity to this agenda through the Lab, drawing on its research over 2021–2024 and its retraining of Ministry of Justice staff in preparation for the 2024 legal experiment. Established policy channels with the Presidential Administration and the Ministry of Justice provided the institutional platform for sustained engagement.

The Lab's contributions have combined public-facing analysis, scholarly writing, and applied methodological support. An interview with Professor I.A. Khamedov, “On Current Issues of the Legal Experiment in Pre-Trial Resolution of Administrative Disputes,” was published in Gazeta.uz in November 2025, while a companion article, "On Alternative Paths for Developing Pre-Trial Administrative Justice in Uzbekistan," was prepared for the Public Law Yearbook of TSUL. These publications are complemented by a methodological guide on the pre-trial resolution of administrative disputes.

Taken together, these outputs consolidate the doctrinal leadership that the CSPL has built in this area since 2021–2024. They have also served to make both stakeholders and the wider public aware that the current legal experiment does not, in its present form, comply with the requirements of UP-80 or with the expectations of the country's leadership. At the same time, the methodological guide provides practical support to the bodies running the experiment, helping to raise its organisational quality.