Central Asian Law

by Khasan Sayfutdinov, Senior Lecturer in Law at Westminster International University in Tashkent

Secondment at Riga Graduate School of Law  

Riga Graduate School of Law (RGSL) is a specialised law school that teaches international and EU law at Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. The school building is located in the historical Art Nouveau block in Riga. In first days at Law School, we were welcomed by the director of the school and provided office and all resources for our research. The library has access to all the latest online publications via leading platforms such as Kluver Arbitration, West Law, etc . During the summer, the school was active by hosting workshops and seminars for academics in the EU Law.

My research  

My research topic is focused on assessing legitimate expectations of foreign investors in Uzbekistan. The purpose of the interviews was to gain an understanding of the legitimate expectations of foreign investors and public regulators in international trade and investment commitments in the field. During the secondment in Riga, I analysed and conducted some focus group discussions where the group consisted of both investors and businesspeople who have registered business in Uzbekistan. The focus group discussions followed interview questions. The questions were categorised into types of legitimate expectations. One of the main topics was the nationality of a foreign company when shareholders have different nationalities. The qualification of legal or juridical persons as investors may raise more complex issues than the ones presented for natural persons, especially since the ICSID Convention does not provide a definition of legal persons.[1] The questions reminded the case of Tokios Tokeles v.Ukraine[2] . In this case, the Tribunal analysed the claimant’s nationality, which was incorporated under the law of one contracting States but controlled by nationals of the host State. It is the same situation when a citizen of Central Asian countries registers a company in the European countries and invests in Central Asia as a foreign investor since their company has foreign registration.

Getting around in Riga

Riga has a good public transportation system where you can get to the other side of the town within 20 minutes. Tickets can be bought by using a mobile application. A public scooter was another option for getting around. Riga International Airport is very convenient, and I have not experienced luggage issues like other airports in the European Union during the summer.

Language: Most of the young population speaks English, but when it comes to people over 40, I have to communicate with them in Russian.

Accommodation:  I had an excellent Airbnb experience the location of the apartment was in the centre and 10 minutes work from the law school.

Weekends

Riga offers many public parks where you can spend your time reading, and the national library also provides a working space for research and coting group discussions.

Riga Central Market is one of the biggest markets in Europe. The bazaar was built from abandoned German 1st World War Zeppelin hangars. The market works in the same way as in Central Asia, where you can find fresh products and some small restaurants in the market territory.

Forests in the town:

Mežaparks (Forest Park) is located in North Central Riga. The park was built in the early 20th century and was originally called Kaiserwald. It was one of the world’s first garden cities. The park also served as a concentration camp during the Second World War. Today it is still one of the largest forest parks in Riga, where you can have a quiet afternoon among tress and have some yoga and jogging sessions.

[1] Yannaca-Small, K., Who is Entitled to Claim?: The Definition of Nationality in Investment Arbitration, in Arbitration Under International Investment Agreements: A Guide to the Key Issues,  2^nd ed., 2010, para. 10.22.

[2] Tokios Tokelés v. Ukraine, ICSID Case No. ARB/02/18, Decision on Jurisdiction, 29 April 2004

Assoc. Prof. H. Deniz Genç, hdgenc@medipol.edu.tr

Ayşe Nazlı Söylet, PhD Candidate, ansoylet@medipol.edu.tr

A very rich cultural and historical background and recent reforms in all spheres of the country side by side summarizes the spirit of Uzbekistan. Experiencing and learning all the controversial and also coherent dynamics of the country through conducting a productive fieldwork has been enlightening indeed. Since the beginning of our secondment, Westminster University staff especially Akhtem, Kush and Bashorat and others were very helpful and kind with everything needed to be sorted out. They assisted us with settling into dorms and the office at the university along with all other things that helped us to feel comfortable. We are truly grateful for their efforts. Besides feeling comfortable, it’s rewarding to see Horizon Projects do foster good partner relations and enhance the connection between partnering university staff. The 1st two weeks were part of the hottest season in Uzbekistan in which the weather went up to 43*C degrees on some days. These days are called Çille in Uzbek (pronounced like Chil-lea) and it was difficult to hold on to living. However, we took that time to start researching the institutions we are going to interview while staying indoors almost all the time. 

We planned to work on ‘Norm diffusion and norm localization in the field of international migration law in Uzbekistan’. Since The Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan holds a very important position in this area of work, we had our first official meeting with the Academy on the 21st of July to talk about the research that we are conducting and to strengthen our relations with Academy’s staff whose work is related to our research. Our meeting was arranged by the Deputy Head of the Academy Mr. Uygun Uchkunovich and he supported our further integration into the network of NGOs and International Organizations operating in Uzbekistan and also state institutions when possible. We are very grateful for their support as a partner institution and himself for taking the initiative to support our fieldwork. The next day we had a great chance to attend a regional videoconference on “Human Trafficking and Technology in Central Asia” held by UNODC and partnering institutions. It was a very efficient meeting for us to understand the current situation, latest developments, and planned progress both in the region and in Uzbekistan. In addition, the meeting played a very good 1st step for us to meet the prominent NGOs working in this field. Through this meeting and through deepening our desk research we realize that there is a lot more to research about even in this one particular field.

(detailed information can be found in the link: https://www.unodc.org/centralasia/en/unodc-held-a-regional-videoconference-on-human-trafficking-and-technology-in-central-asia.html)

To us, one of the most distinct benefits of secondments is that you are present at the place on which you are conducting research. To be present in the place gives you the chance to observe societal, economic, mental, and cultural dynamics and shape your perspective through these experiences you have. Now being able to compare our thoughts before coming to Uzbekistan and our current observations, there is a huge difference between the two perspectives. This difference is also relevant with the research processes. Because most of the research subjects in social sciences are context-dependent, which makes it very important to understand the context itself before reaching to any conclusions. Therefore, trying to understand the context by visiting Uzbekistan and spending some time here, has been an eye-opening and explanatory experience for us.

In the following weeks, we had a great chance to meet with Westminster International University of Tashkent’s Rector, Prof. Bakhrom Mirkasimov, who provided us valuable information about the history of the university and of the country. We also exchanged our research topics and areas of interest. We are grateful for his hospitality and kindness.

During the same days, we had couple of more productive meetings with variety of international organizations. One of the organizations that accepted our meeting request was International Organization of Migration (IOM), Tashkent office. The head of the office Mr. Sanjarbek Toshbaev and programme assistant Mr. Shahzod Nazarov were very kind that they share a lot of helpful information about the purpose, projects, and prospective work of IOM in the country and provided us great number of insights about the transformation that Uzbekistan is going through for several years. To understand this changing social, political, and economic context from inside and its relationship with our field of research is at utmost importance for our work.

In the last couple of years Uzbekistan is experiencing a great number of legal and political reforms emerging from the changing direction of political will. Country’s demand for development in all spheres of life and political will to fulfill these demands are effective in the process of these reforms. Regulation of international migration and prevention of trafficking in persons and forced labor are other issues that Uzbek government is trying to deal, especially with more established and concrete laws and new legal arrangements through variety of partnerships. The government is getting a lot of support from international organizations for field work, training of local NGOs, forming up international coordination projects and spreading the know-how to local government units. All these efforts are becoming visible both in the field and in the legal framework concerning our research. It is truly helpful to be able to gather this information from IOM as they play a very important role in lots of projects in the field of migration. Once again, we appreciate their time and effort.

Outside of work hours, we tried to discover the gems of Tashkent in which we really enjoyed country’s delicious and rich cuisine, wide boulevards and public spaces and amazingly green city center with lots of parks. And yes, Uzbeks are the best plov (rice food) makers in this world! There are lots of nice patisseries with a suitable environment to work inside. One should not forget the serious heat wave that can smack you down on some days. That’s also why cool patisseries and parks are life saviors! We also took time to discover local bazaars that people sell fresh fruits and veggies alongside with dried fruits and nuts. As we are coming from Turkey, local bazaars are familiar to our daily lives which also gave us a perspective to compare the differences and enrich our bazaar culture. From this angle, it is a very interesting experience for us to spot the common components between two countries as we shared lots of ancient roots. Many cultural characteristics, traditions and behavioral codes feels like home on one hand and on the other, we are total foreigners in this society. Still, from cooking elements to celebration habits, we discovered countless of traits in common between Turkish and Uzbek society that we enjoyed while discovering. Apart from the benefits for our research, it has been a very fruitful and meaningful journey for both of us. For an entertaining and illuminating read to know better about Central Asian countries, one can check the book called Sovietistan: Travels in Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and, Uzbekistan by Erika Fatland.

In the next couple of days, we were able to manage two important online meetings with USAID and related organization Winrock International and ICMPD (International Center for Migration Policy Development). All these institutions were very effective in the process of transformation of the migration policy of Uzbekistan and became one of the most significant project partners throughout the time. From USAID and Winrock International Mr. Ruslan Ramanov and Mrs. Nodira Saidkarimova provided us with great deal of insights about their partnership processes with Uzbekistan and how they developed their relationship and how effective are these multi-partner projects to create a stronger push for change together with the political will. Meeting with ICMPD conducted with Mr. Radim Zak, Head of Region Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ICMPD currently has a project called Border Management in Central Asia (BOMCA 10) with participation of all Central Asian countries with the aim of supporting cross-border cooperation and improving living conditions for people living in border areas. Therefore, they are well informed about the legal processes and current developments in the field of migration and trafficking in persons throughout the region. He also provided us with very useful insights about how they are establishing partnerships with governments of all Central Asian countries and their agendas about the topic. All these meetings provided valuable insights to us for understanding the regional developments and specifically the developments in Uzbekistan.

We are very grateful to everybody who support our research in Uzbekistan with all their efforts. We are also grateful to Rustamjon Urinboyev and the project team for providing such a good opportunity for us.

Hello, my name is Nilay Ökten. I am in my 5th year as a research assistant at Marmara University, Department of Political Science and International Relations. I am a phd Candidate in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Istanbul University. Within the scope of my doctoral thesis, I am working on Latin American politics and US interventionism and I am making academic publications on this region. My studies mostly focus on military interventions, the relationship between interest groups and politics, colonial history, and political economy in Latin American region. At the same time, I participate as a researcher within the scope of the European Union H2020 MSCA-RISE Central Asian Law project and carry out my field research on the illegal commercial network in the local economy in Kyrgyzstan. For this reason, I stayed for 1 month in Bishkek, the beautiful capital of Kyrgyzstan, and had an incredible adventure. The first thought that occurred to me on the first day I arrived in Bishkek was that it had an unbelievably peaceful, calm, natural and relaxing aura. It really became a home for me with its air, its environment with beautiful mountains, the beautiful sounds of natural life and the welcoming attitudes of people trying to help me on everything.

SIAR research and consulting, the project partner in Kyrgyzstan, became my secondment workspace and also my new family. They provided me with office facilities, translation support for my interviews and a peaceful working environment. At the same time, I had the chance to get to know, learn and contribute as much as I can to the huge projects carried out by this large and professional institution. I can say that I had a really productive learning and self-development experience. I am also grateful for the support and interest of dear Ainoura Sagynbaeva, the founder of SIAR research and consulting. I would like to thank all my colleagues for helping me during the secondment.

Elnura Ibraeva, one of the most beautiful people in the world, who was with me before the secondment, and who is with me during and hopefully who will be with me after this experience and for the rest of my life as my best friend definitely deserves a huge thank you. She gave me a huge family atmosphere in Bishkek and she is truly the greatest and most beautiful gift that this project has given me in my personal life. I would like to give her the sister of the year award for her presence and always being by my side 🙂

The experience of living in Kyrgyzstan was actually an adventure about discovering the similarities and differences between the cultures of two different nationalities of the same race. While the cultures of Turkey and Kyrgyzstan converge at many points, they also diverge in many other areas. This is where my enthusiasm to prepare a public article where I share this situation in more detail stemmed from. I look forward to sharing it with the entire project team when it is published.

Within the scope of the project, we aimed to conduct interviews with my dear colleague, academician Elifcan Çoruk, in the field work and findings section of the research article we produced, in order to identify the trade network between local agricultural producers, intermediaries and marketers, which can be considered as an illegal shadow economy. The interviews I made in Bishkek as part of the secondment took place in this direction. With the help of Elnura, especially with translation, and based on the snowball model, we had very productive interviews and we left the field by taking the data we wished to have. Of course, we had some interesting events during the interviews 🙂 The brookers and marketers on the way to Almaty Altın Ordo market did not want us to interview them, when we asked for demographic information, they blocked us from the video call because they were afraid that we might share them with people or institutions that might be mysterious or dangerous 🙂 First of all, I would like to say that we totally understand people who have some questions in their minds with falling into tense political events while continuing their daily lives calmly and as usual, and avoid even answering a simple demographic questions of age or number of family members. It is very humane that they want to feel safe and protected in a political geography with high tension, and therefore we decided to cancel the Almaty interviews, not wanting to go over them and insist. However, as I said, all these experiences in field experience have made priceless contribution to my academic and personal views. That’s why I’m grateful for everything that the Project provided for me. I hope the pictures and secondment memories were interesting for anyone who reads this. Thank you very much and I wish everyone a healthy day and good work.

Humanity has entered the era of the “electronic digit” and in this reality the action and image of many social institutions and regulators, including law, are refracted. (Khabrieva, 2018). The impact of digital transformation has spread to the legal system, both nationally and internationally.

For many years, developed countries have been improving the system of legal norms in the field of the digital economy.

The formation of a favorable investment climate largely depends on the predictability of legal regulation, its soundness and stability.

It is worth noting that even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, investment in digital services continues to flow at a high level globally, outpacing investment in nearly all other sectors.

The Constitution in Tajikistan recognizes, protects and guarantees human rights and freedoms by the state, and guarantees freedom of economic and entrepreneurial activity, equality and legal protection of all forms of ownership, including private. Also, the Constitution establishes the right of everyone to privacy, ensures the privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal telephone, telegraph and other messages, and also prohibits the collection, storage, use and dissemination of information about a person’s personal life without his consent. These constitutional provisions are directly related to the legal regulation of the digital economy and fully apply to it. That is, all other regulatory legal acts adopted in the field of the digital economy must comply with these constitutional norms.

The system of law and legislation, in order not to lose its effectiveness in the course of regulating new social relations, it is necessary to develop the function of reproducing new structural elements that allow to streamline the processes of digitalization of all spheres of public life and even manage them, if possible (Tanimov, 2019). But unfortunately, there is little theoretical research in the field of law on the digital economy in Tajikistan. This issue is especially relevant when implementing the Concept of Digital Economy that was officially adopted by the Government of Tajikistan on December 30, 2019.

It should be noted that one of the priorities in this concept is to strengthen the legal framework, develop a political and legal framework for such key processes of the digital economy as identification / authentication, privacy, control of personal data, regulation of data exchange, regulation of open data, work with digital contracts and other legal instruments and the regulation of information security and cybersecurity issues. Regulatory regulation of the digital economy is aimed at streamlining social, digital economic, organizational, managerial and legal relations based on the rules of behaviour of the state, business, IT organizations, IT specialists, the population, all participants in IT processes.

Back in 2011, the Concept for the formation of electronic government in the country was approved, and, in this regard, a number of projects were implemented. Significant among them, according to the author, is the implementation at the Tax Committee of the “Single Window” registration system for legal entities and individual entrepreneurs. Also, an electronic tax declaration system has been introduced, which allows payers to facilitate the reporting process and fully automate the process of submitting tax returns to the tax authorities. The next initiative of the state, the creation of a Unified Electronic Register of Information and Information on Licenses and Permits, containing complete and reliable information on the process of obtaining licenses and permits for certain types of activities in the Republic of Tajikistan.

By the resolution of the Majlisi Namoyandagon Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan in 2016, the country approved the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the period up to 2030, where one of the basic principles in the strategy is innovation (development based on innovations in all spheres of the country’s socio-economic life).

Speaking about the country’s innovative development strategy, I would like to note the draft Law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On Electronic Commerce”, directed to the consideration of the Majlisi Namoyandagon Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The development of e-commerce is beneficial to all parties. For the state, this is a transparent economy and a way out of business from the shadows. The consumer creates comfortable conditions for receiving the desired services and goods. For the bank and business, this is additional income, process automation and increased sales.

Unfortunately, at the state level in Tajikistan, digital transformation is not properly supported, and it is often difficult to overcome certain barriers.

In accordance with the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan “On the National Bank of Tajikistan”, “On banking” and “On the liquidation of credit institutions” by the resolution of the Board of the National Bank of Tajikistan dated May 21, 2021, the licenses of Agroinvestbank OJSC and Tojiksodirotbonk OJSC were revoked. (National Bank of Tajikistan, 2021).

In particular, due to the liquidation of the two largest banks in Tajikistan – Agroinvestbank and Tochiksodirotbank, due to the downgrading of the rating in the banking sector, “foreign” money costs us more. By the way, the National Bank could not clearly explain the reasons for the bankruptcy of these two large banks. Foreign lenders have many questions about their confidence in our banking sector. It is necessary to develop legal norms taking into account internationally recognized requirements. For example, to attract foreign capital to the financial sector, changes are needed in the laws of the Republic of Tajikistan “On payment services and payment system”, “On currency regulation and currency control” and “On the national bank of Tajikistan.” – Firdavs Kholmatov, The head of the Analytical Department – CJSC MDO “Imon International”.

Tajik commercial companies, for example, operate on their own, often losing out to foreign competitors. Nevertheless, examples of Tajik companies following the path of digital transformation already exist, for example, in the field of information technology, in the banking sector and in education.

Successful start-ups and large companies are examples of how you can take advantage of the digital revolution – to come up with and implement completely new business patterns.

Legal Aspects of cryptocurrencies, big data and blockchain technologies

Such phenomena of the digital economy as cryptocurrencies today do not have clear, specific (or do not have) legal regulation.

On the one hand, the lack of legal regulation of relations on the use of cryptocurrency significantly slows down the process of digitalization of the economy, on the other hand, the use of cryptocurrency in many cases is the cause of violation of the rights of citizens, business entities and non-observance of public law interests (Makarchuk, 2018).

In some jurisdictions (e.g., Australia) government licensing of cryptocurrency activities does not exist for these reasons.

And in Germany, on the contrary, persons providing services in the cryptocurrency market (platforms, etc.) and carrying out operations with cryptocurrencies on a permanent and commercial basis (carrying out speculative activities) must obtain an appropriate BaFin license (Global Legal Insights, 2019).

As well as German, Italian law considers cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange for a product or service. At the same time, Italian acts emphasize that the key task of legal regulation is to protect public interests related to the laundering of criminal proceeds. In Italy, they seek to control the cryptocurrency market, for this purpose in 2012 such a state body as the Italian Digital Development Agency was created, authorized to regulate this sector of the economy.

In Tajikistan, cryptocurrency is also not officially a means of exchange and savings, as well as a unit of account. In the country, all financial transactions are carried out only in the national currency – somoni.

Most countries have followed the path of targeted legislative regulation of certain aspects in the field of cryptocurrencies, and therefore it is important for Tajikistan to study the experience of these countries and draw certain conclusions and steps in this direction.

Hans Timmer, the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia, at the presentation of the report in Tbilisi, noted – “Many countries in the Europe and Central Asia region have proved fertile ground for the development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology” (The World Bank, 2018).

Blockchain technology is able to provide trust between the parties without any intermediaries and also free of charge. After all, new decentralized business models no longer require third-party intermediaries.

Three reasons are normally cited for the blockchain’s revolutionary capacity. First, the ‘blockchain could radically alter the existing distribution of social and economic power’ through the disintermediation of powerful intermediaries such as banks. Secondly, for advanced industrialised economies, it could enhance operational efficiencies in commerce and beyond. Thirdly, owing to the trustless trust they supposedly instil, blockchains ‘may deliver the most significant transformational change’ to developing economies absent trustworthy legal institutions (Low & Mik, 2020).

We believe that in the longer term, blockchain can lead to various changes in legal regulations, for example in the case of Tajikistan – the basic law of the Republic of Tajikistan “On public services”, or industry-specific (for example, the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan dated March 20, 2008 No. 375 “On state registration of real estate and rights to it”. But at this stage of its development, blockchain still looks like another technology that poses complex problems in terms of interpretation, regulation, and application of existing rules.

The economic impact and the specific nature of big data have already shown the need for a timely response. Reasonable, in the long term, seems to be the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan dated December 2, 2002, No. 71 “On the protection of information”, the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan dated May 10, 2002, No. 55 “On information” and the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan dated August 3, 2018 No. 1537 “On the Protection of Personal Data” of the new concept of “Big Data”, to further determine the conditions for applying a restricted access regime to them and establish the obligations of the person processing such information to ensure its confidentiality and safety.

Investment climate and perspectives

Tajikistan in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 rating received 61.3 points and is in 106th place, lagging behind developed countries.

Therefore, the issues of foreign investment are important for the socio-economic development of the republic.

According to the Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, from 2007 to 2019, the inflow of foreign investment into the economy of Tajikistan amounted to 9 billion 865.7 million US dollars, of which 4 billion 345.9 million US dollars are direct investments

Also, in order to attract foreign investment and create a business environment, during the period of independence, more than 100 normative legal acts have been adopted that regulate this area, including the Laws “On State Support of Entrepreneurship”, “On Investments”, “On Foreign Economic Activity”, “On Financial lease (leasing)”, “On investment agreements”, “On free economic zones”, and other regulations. These laws are aimed at legal protection of investments, providing investors with tax and non-fiscal incentives, ensuring their participation in the privatization process and infrastructure development.

In order to ensure favorable conditions for attracting foreign investment and supporting the private sector in Tajikistan, five free economic zones have been created and the creation of information technology parks (for example, on the territory of such special zones) have much more opportunities to increase business activity and attract business. In addition, if the state provides various benefits (tax, consulting, administrative, documentary) supporting the initiatives to create precisely IT parks, then, for example, the physical isolation of the country from the landlocked is compensated. Indeed, in the IT-sphere there are no such concepts as a border, distance, etc. IT parks provide an opportunity for young talents of the country to reveal their talents, and foreign companies can help them, for example, by providing local IT companies with various orders in the field of IT.

It is worth noting that the emphasis on information technology outsourcing is one of the important elements of IT parks. For example, the total contract value of the IT outsourcing market is projected to grow to more than $ 409 billion by 2022. And according to the latest statistics, IT / software workers account for 60% of the global outsourcing market.

In parallel with the activities of IT Park, the legal framework in the field of venture financing will be improved. It is important to strengthen cooperation with international donors and firms. A dialogue is needed between the state, business, organizations and people.

To increase trust, we consider it necessary, for example, to create a platform (online portal), where representatives of the state (representatives of the presidential and government apparatus, as well as law enforcement and oversight bodies) and various business circles and associations will be included as observers.

The evolution of the digital society and the virtual space, forms network forms of communication, which, developing, allow more and more people to satisfy individual and social needs through interaction on the Internet.

Concluding remarks

By removing various barriers and introducing a consistent transformation of traditional legal mechanisms to modern realities in the field of digital relations, as well as creating a more favorable business environment, Tajikistan could attract more investment.

In addition to the digitalization of the economy, important factors are the gradual strengthening of the rule of law, increasing transparency, leveling the conditions for market competition – the key to integration into the global economy.

References

1. Khabrieva T. Y. (2018). Law facing the challenges of digital reality. Journal of Russian Law, 9 (261), 5-16.
2. The impact of digital technologies on the emergence of new structural elements of the legal system. Russian justice, 7, 2-5.
3. Global Legal Insights. (2019). Blockchain & Cryptocurrency regulation. Retrieved March 30, 2021 from https://www.acc.com/sites/default/files/resources/vl/membersonly/Article/1489775_1.pdf
4. Countries in Europe and Central Asia Can Provide Better Opportunities and Services for Citizens by Leveraging Blockchain Technologies. Retrieved June 6, 2021 from
5. Low K., Mik E. (2020). Pause the blockchain legal revolution. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 69(1), 135-175. doi:10.1017/S0020589319000502

By Inese Kalnina, assistant professor at the University of Latvia

I would like to share my personal feelings and experiences about the research stages that I carried out at the Academy in Uzbekistan.

My experience was awe-inspiring, thanks to the fantastic Academy staff. I spent almost five months at the Academy. And since the beginning, I have been included in an excellent research team. I adapted to a new set of colleagues and working practices and culture. I met great colleagues such as Shahnoza Zufarova, Durbek Turahonov, Dilaver Khamzaev, and others. They helped me to go through research difficulties and reach my research goals. They organized my workplace, introduced me to experts, and participated in other research activities. They were open to any type of collaboration and discussions.

Working in another country comes with some changes in lifestyle and working conditions. I needed to adapt to different time zones, colleagues, cultures, languages, and weather conditions. My secondment in Tashkent started on June the 10th with hot weather of 55 C and sun in the blue sky without any clouds. That was so different from my country; at the beginning, it was so hard to keep working because, in Latvia, the weather is much more cold and humid. In Uzbekistan, the sun was shining during the whole period of the secondment. That was beautiful!

Secondment at the Academy was an excellent opportunity for me to experience a new research issue; I explored Uzbekistan’s export activities and legislation related to them. My research topic was “Indicators of Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Development of Legislation of Support for Export Activities.” I met experts in this area, conducted interviews, workshops, held lectures/seminars for Masters students of the Academy about legal aspects of export activities: main risks and their elimination. I shared my knowledge, experience, perspective, and contacts to help them develop new ideas or new working practices. At the same time, the secondment was a learning curve that provided valuable operational, managerial, and relational experience for me.

Within the time spent working within the Academy, I had a great opportunity to find out what can sometimes seem different in such areas as economics, politics, and law. I recognized objective things that showed me that in the globalization era, however, the world is separated politically, and the country’s economic development can be affected by other states and international organizations’ decisions. I had the opportunity to meet with the best experts from various government institutions: Institute of Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research, Export Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Commissioner for Protection of Rights and Legitimate Interests of Entrepreneurs under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

At a personal and professional level, the secondment provided me with an opportunity to create new contacts and develop my professional network. I achieved this by working with people from different backgrounds and getting to know them personally. I believe these contacts will be an invaluable resource in the future.

Also, I had the opportunity to explore Uzbekistan’s traditions and culture. I was happy to visit Opera in Tashkent and travel to Samarkand. I was introduced to the beauty of Tashkent. 

It was the perfect way to put all my professional skills to the test, recognize just how competent I am, and find out what I need to learn very quickly. But that’s when I became acutely aware of my true capabilities. I will remember this secondment experience, the great working relationships, along with the wonderful people I met.

Nasimbek Azizov, Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Uzbekistan

My secondment at Lund University

I am Nasimbek Azizov and I conducted research on the settlement of economic disputes in business and their impact on the business environment in Uzbekistan during my secondment as a guest researcher at Lund University. The research was conducted within the European Commission funded project “Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environment”, and coordinated by Sociology of Law Department. I was very pleased to meet the Head of the Department Isabel Schoultz and to discuss all issues related to my research topic with  Rustamjon Urinboyev (project coordinator) and they created all the conditions for us to conduct research.

My secondment at Lund University started from November 9 and completed on December 31, 2021. Using this blog post as an opportunity, let me share my secondment experiences and research activity, where I was hosted as a researcher by Sociology of Law Department. My secondment at Lund University provided me opportunities to read foreign publications regarding my research and to learn research methods in the context of sociology of law.As part of my study, I have used electronic resources database and library resources of Lund University. I have also attended a course on “Law, society and corruption” designed by the Department of Sociology of Law of Lund University. Within the frame of my research, I took part in a webinar on “The importance of legal consciousness and legal culture of citizens in maintaining rule of law”, organized by Uzbek Embassy in Germany with the partnership of Sociology of Law Department of the Lund University, and Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office, and World Association of Youth of Uzbekistan (on December 18^th). During my presentation, I gave a brief overview of my secondment at Lund University and introduced the content of my research topic. Also, based on my research work, I prepared a paper for publishing in Project team annual handbook.

In my opinion, today it is important to study the essence, content and interrelation of law and sociology in the field of legal education and science in Uzbekistan. Because in legal practice, it is very important to study the views of members of society, to take into account the interests of society in the preparation of each legal norm.

When I conducted the research, I became convinced that it is important not only to analyze legal norms, but also to conduct sociological research on how it works in society and get real information about ways to resolve disputes between entrepreneurs and their impact on the business environment. This requires a study of economic court decisions, the views of legal practitioners and business representatives.

At present, the successful development of all businesses depends on their legal protection. At the same time, the emergence of disputes between entrepreneurs and their resolution is closely linked to the legal culture. The state of the legal environment and the level of the formed legal culture and other aspects directly affect and determine the degree of protection of the business and its interests.

We guess that, more than million different economic contracts are signed in our country every year. These are only approximate data. Undoubtedly, with such a development of economic activity, it is very important that business disputes are resolved as soon as possible.

Today, we can observe that most of the economic disputes between entrepreneurs arise from contracts concluded between them. The basis of entrepreneurship is contractual relations. Failure to fulfill the obligations set forth in the contract will lead to a conflict situation.

In this regard, it is necessary to develop in every possible way the methods widely recommended in the world: pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure and judicial settlement of disputes through negotiations (mediation) and amicable (settlement) agreements, as well as alternative ways of resolving conflicts through arbitration.  

My research topic is also related to the activities of the organization I am currently working on. The main task of the prosecutor’s office in Uzbekistan is to ensure the rule of law in the country, strengthen the rule of law, protect the rights and freedoms of citizens, the legally protected interests of society and the state, crime prevention. In carrying out this work, special attention is paid to ensuring the protection and support of business entities. In particular, cases of unjustified interference in business activities and illegal inspections of business activities are being eliminated. Violation of contract discipline and payment discipline is also considered a type of offense. According to the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On contracting and legal basis of activity of business entities” supervision of compliance with legislation related to the conclusion, execution, amendment and termination of business contracts is carried out by the prosecution authorities in accordance with the legislative acts. These bodies also take the necessary measures to having the perpetrators brought to justice in the order established by law, and ensure compensation of the damage caused to the business entity. The Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan is an educational and research institution. The main goal of the Academy is to organize an effective system of training, retraining and advanced training of employees of the prosecutor’s office and other personnel, as well as to conduct fundamental and applied scientific research. And I am an associate professor of the Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan and I have been developing the knowledge and skills of prosecutors on prosecutorial control over the implementation of laws in the economic sphere, in particular in the field of entrepreneurship.

At this point, it is necessary to find answers to the following questions for research:

• How much are entrepreneurs aware of the ways to resolve a dispute before a court or through an economic court or through an arbitration court, which is not a state court?
• Do entrepreneurs specify the procedure for pre-trial settlement of a dispute under a contract as a mandatory clause in the contract?
• Do entrepreneurs know what methods of pre-trial settlement of contract disputes arise and what are the mechanisms for applying these methods in practice?
• To what extent is the increase in the number of entrepreneurs’ claims for non-fulfillment of contractual obligations by regions related to the level of legal culture of entrepreneurs, and is this a positive or negative indicator?
• What is the state of certain legal mechanisms in the process of considering entrepreneurs’ appeals to economic courts and their appeals?
• How does the emergence of disputes between entrepreneurs affect the business environment?
• How often do entrepreneurs use legal services (lawyers)?

A draft survey covering these questions was also developed.

Many developed countries use ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) methods as a conflict resolution tool. I believe that, now in Uzbekistan on of the main methods of resolving business disputes is the court. Conflicts can arise between business owners due to various misunderstandings. Moreover, it is not always possible to find a solution peacefully. However, the parties have several options for solving the problem. This can be an appeal to the court or to a third party, which, based on all the information, will help the parties to come to an agreement. So-called “resolutions”, “settlements” or “terminations” are frequently not the end of the story of a particular dispute or case, especially in a situation of continuing relationships (Twining W, 1993, 392).

I analyzed the issues related to the ADR process as the dispute settlement mechanism in commercial contracts, focusing on mediation and pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure.

Each business owner, having signed a contract, expects its execution. In connection with the pandemic, the violation of contracts is not always the result of the counterparty’s bad faith, but in fact it can be force majeure. Therefore, it is better for the parties to negotiate in order to maintain relations and business. Therefore, it is extremely important to popularize ADR among entrepreneurs.

The main prerequisites for the use of ADR are:

– the parties to the conflict have a desire to preserve the existing relations between them, resolving the dispute through negotiations;

– the parties wish to resolve the conflict less formally;

– the parties want to quickly resolve the conflict.

Until 2019, the only way to reduce the number of cases considered by the economic court was one of the types of pre-trial settlement of disputes – claims proceedings, which is traditional for Uzbek law (this year amendments were made to the Economic procedural code about mediation).

Legal reforms implemented in Uzbekistan affect different aspects of legal activity and changes also occurred in the organization and working conditions of courts. And these reforms will ensure accelerated implementation of the requirements stipulated in the indicators of the annual “Doing Business” report. It was mentioned that one of the highlights of Uzbekistan’s reforms is making contract enforcement easier by introducing a consolidated law on voluntary mediation, establishing financial incentives for the parties to attempt mediation, and publishing performance measurement reports on local commercial courts (Doing Business 2020: Reforms Propel Uzbekistan to Place Among World’s Top 20 Business Climate Improvers).

An economic dispute is a dispute between legal entities, or between a legal entity and an individual, or between individuals whether domestic or foreign that may arise from the breach of a contract or from a dispute related to production or business operations.

Economic court shall settle disputes:

1) on disagreements arising at the conclusion of a contract, the obligatory conclusion of which is provided for by law;

2) on disagreements arising from the conclusion of a contract, the transfer of which to the court is agreed by the parties to the contract;

3) on amendment or termination of a contract;

4) on declaring a transaction invalid;

5) on non-performance or improper performance of obligations;

6) on declaration of ownership;

7) on reclamation of property from another’s adverse possession by the owner or another lawful possessor.

…

The court shall also settle other disputes attributed to its competence by law.

Pre-trial settlement of economic disputes in Uzbekistan is also carried out through:

negotiations;

pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure;

mediation (it may be during the court litigation).

Most of the contracts concluded by business entities today stipulate that when a dispute arises, the parties must resolve the dispute amicably through negotiations, and if the dispute is not resolved through this method, they must go to the court. In most cases, the settlement of disputes through negotiations (resolving amicably) is specified in the contracts as a separate item. In case of failure to reach an agreement in such negotiations, the disputes shall be settled in court. If the contract provides for the peaceful settlement of disputes between the parties, but does not specify the procedure for resolving the dispute, then the procedure for resolving the dispute by pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure is not mandatory. According to the general theory, the use of ADR methods cannot be an obstacle to bringing a dispute to court. The mandatory provision of the mediation procedure may violate the disputantsʼ right of access to the justice, the mediation procedure should not become a barrier before the litigation (Karaketov M, 2014, 100).

Pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure

The use of the pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure for resolving a dispute by the disputing parties is aimed at prompt resolution of the dispute and serves as an additional guarantee of protection of rights. It is the preeminent mode of dispute resolution in Uzbekistan. The pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure of disputes means the exchange of letters (claim and response to the claim) stating the views and proposals of the parties to resolve the dispute.

The business entity whose rights and legitimate interests are violated, shall have the right to lodge a claim against the business entity that violated these rights and interests.

In case of full or partial recognition of the claim, the claimant has the right, within twenty days upon receipt of the reply, to submit to the bank an order to write off the amount recognized by the debtor incontestably. The debtor’s response shall be attached to the order.

A party may file a court claim and an application for a court ruling to be issued to the economic court in case of refusal (partial refusal) or failure to receive a response to the claim within the prescribed period from the other party.

But by the Economic procedural code if the law establishes a pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure for a certain category of disputes or it is provided for by a contract, the case may be initiated in court only after the parties have taken measures to voluntarily settle their relationship. But in the law “On contracting and legal basis of activity of business entities” it is written as a right.

Why don’t some of the business entities use this mechanism and how informed they are about it? Most of the people do not have sufficient information regarding this procedure. According to the law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On contracting and legal basis of activity of business entities” business contracts shall be checked for compliance with the law by the legal service of business entities or by involved lawyers in the process of preparation. The conclusion of contracts without their approval is not allowed.

What does an increase of the number of economic disputes mean? Is it a negative or positive indicator?  We should assess the increase in disputes between business entities as a negative indicator. Calculating an indicator of conflicts related to the fulfillment of obligations and others, crimes and administrative offences related to business activities help us to know about the business environment of the any region. For example, determination of the average size of the number of conflicts (in the economic, civil, administrative courts) between business entities, between business entities and persons or administrative bodies, in addition crimes and administrative offenses related to business activities (in the criminal courts), considered with the participation of business entities in the respective region, per 1000 business entities operating in this region, is calculated using the following formula:

Indicator size №1 = (Conflicts/ Business entities ) × 1000

Indicator size №2 = (Crimes and administrative offenses related to business activities / Business entities ) × 1000

The third indicator is the determination of the average size of the number of court orders (in economic courts the court order is an independent type of ruling of the court of first instance, which is not related to the non-dispute claim proceedings in the court, is issued according to the requirements, the list of which is specified in Economic Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan and has the force of an executive document) issued in relation to business entities in economic courts in the respective region, per 1000 business entities operating in this area, is calculated using the following formula:

Indicator size №3 = (Number of court orders / the number of business entities) × 1000

Mediation

ADR is a less formal procedure in comparison with the procedure for considering cases in court, allowing to significantly relieve the burden on the judicial system while resolving the conflict that has arisen (Rustambekov, 2020).

Mediation differs from other alternative methods of dispute resolution (arbitration, pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure) in its informal nature. Mediation can be applied out of court, in the process of consideration of the dispute in court, before the court is removed to a separate (advisory) room for the adoption of a judicial act, as well as in the process of execution of judicial acts and acts of other bodies.

The economic court is obliged to suspend the proceedings due to conclusion of an agreement on the mediation procedure until the end of the mediation procedure, but no more than sixty days.

If the mediation agreement is not fulfilled, the parties are entitled to apply to the court for the protection of their rights. It means that the plaintiff shall have the right to submit again to the court. It seems to me that this mechanism will not work.

My hypothesis is that it would work effectively if a mediation agreement approved by the court and which has not been executed voluntarily within the time limits specified by the agreement, shall be subject to enforcement on the basis of a writ of execution issued by the court at the petition of the person who entered into the mediation agreement. In Russian Federation and Belarus mediation agreement was equated as an amicable agreement and enforcement procedure of the mediation agreement is the same with the amicable agreement.

Mediation has many advantages over litigation. For example, you save time and money. During mediation, there are no winners or losers, since it provides for the consolidation of agreements between the parties. The mediation process consists of several stages (the choice of a mediator, conclusion of an agreement on the use of mediation, mediation and conclusion a mediation agreement, execution of the mediation agreement).

When a dispute is resolved by a mediation agreement in the manner of mediation, the paid state fee shall be returned, with the exception of cases of concluding a mediation agreement in the process of execution of judicial acts and acts of other bodies (Article 17 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Mediation” dated July 3, 2018, No. LRU-482.). And the state should provide some privileges for the parties who settle the dispute through amicable (settlement) agreements.

The Civil and the Economic Courts can promote its widespread use by informing the parties about the existence of mediation and its advantages (Masadikov, 2020). The state need to actively promote mediation among the business entities and organize meetings between mediators and judges. Ministry of justice of Uzbekistan maintains a register of professional mediators.

Today, I commend the work of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in dispute resolution and mediation. Because according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, in the first half of 2019 year, 793 disputes between business entities were resolved in the process of pre-trial dispute resolution (mediation). For example, in the interests of “Shoxidon Metan Gaz” LLC, the Namangan Regional Department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry filed a lawsuit against the Namangan regional administration for 3,414,000,000 sums, but the lawsuit was dismissed due to a mediation agreement between the parties (case No. 4-16-2105 / 27, dated 12.11.2021). According to the Law “On the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan”, the Chamber has the right to conduct pre-trial settlement of disputes between the parties. In addition, the Chamber examines all primary documents before filing a lawsuit in the interests of its members, and the responsible officer of the Chamber holds a meeting between the parties to resolve the dispute through a pre-trial settlement procedure (mediation).

In Sweden New Entrepreneur’s Business Center (Nyföretagar Centrum Lund) provides also free advice to those who are thinking of starting their own company or already have one. There are two different types of meetings: individual counseling and start-own-course in group. In Uzbekistan, it is advisable to provide information on mediation and pre-trial dispute resolution in the training and education of entrepreneurs.

Currently, economic courts are assisting the parties in resolving disputes by recommending that the parties enter into a mediation agreement, explaining its consequences, and giving them appropriate time to do so. This is a sign that the conflicting parties are realizing that the new institution is effective. This institution is similar in many respects to the procedure for pre-trial settlement of economic disputes (submission of applications) and the procedure for concluding a settlement agreement, but differs from them. The difference is that mediation is carried out with the participation of a mediator, the proceedings are not terminated when the mediation agreement is concluded, but the claim is left without consideration, and then the parties have the right to go to court to protect their rights in case of non-compliance with the terms of the mediation agreement. When a mediation agreement is concluded, the state fee paid to the court is refunded, but not in the settlement agreement.

In conclusion, it is necessary to improve the current national legislation on the pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure of economic disputes and mediation in the following ways:

1. Business contracts should include a mediation clause to allow for alternative / out-of-court dispute resolution, if the parties want this. Because the Law “On contracting and legal basis of activity of business entities” does not require the parties to specify and follow the mediation procedure in the contracts.

2. Disputes should be made available on the website where court decisions are published (www.public.sud.uz), including the name of any business entity with their consent. This allows the parties wishing to sign the contract to receive information about their future partner on previous contractual disputes.

 3. The procedure for conducting “negotiations” as a pre-trial settlement of disputes should be established at the legislative level and the consequences of non-compliance should be established in the Code of Economic Procedure.

4. The Code of Economic Procedure of the Republic of Uzbekistan should be amended to allow businesses to apply not only the procedure for filing an application as a pre-trial (claim) procedure, but also the procedure of “negotiation” and “mediation” as other methods of pre-trial settlement.

5. When a dispute is resolved by a mediation agreement, the paid state fee shall be returned. Therefore, the state should provide some privileges for state fee of the parties who settle the dispute through amicable (settlement) agreements too.

6. The entrepreneurs should be informed about the existence and possibilities of pre-trial (claim) settlement procedure of economic disputes and mediation, in addition judges, lawyers, business entities should be involved in the interviews, conferences, round tables devoted to these issues.

References:

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan. (2019). Retrieved 16 December 2021, from https://chamber.uz/uzk/news/4789

Doing Business 2020: Reforms Propel Uzbekistan to Place Among World’s Top 20 Business Climate Improvers. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2019/10/24/doing-business-2020-reforms-propel-uzbekistan-to-place-among-worlds-top-20-business-climate-improvers

Economic court case No. 4-16-2105 / 27 (12.11.2021) of Namangan regional court. https://public.sud.uz/#!/sign/economy

Karaketov M. (2014). “Creating an appropriate model of court-connected mediation for uzbek judicial system”. Doctoral Thesis in Law. https://nagoya.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/19045/files/k10785_thesis.pdf

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Mediation” dated July 3, 2018, No. LRU-482. https://lex.uz/docs/4407205

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan” dated July 9, 2018, No. LRU-483.  https://lex.uz/docs/3815461

Masadikov, Sherzodbek. 2020. ‘Mediation in Uzbekistan’. Kluwer Mediation Blog. http://mediationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2020/02/10/mediation-in-uzbekistan/ (December 16, 2021).

Rustambekov I. (2020). Genesis of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in the republic of uzbekistan. Review of Law Sciences, November Еxclusive issue, 7–20.).

Twining, W. (1993). Alternative to What? Theories of Litigation, Procedure and Dispute Settlement in Anglo-American Jurisprudence: Some Neglected Classics. The Modern Law Review, 56(3), 380–392. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1993.tb02679.x

Nyforetagarcentrum. Welcome to Lund’s New Entrepreneur’s Business Center. https://www.nyforetagarcentrum.se/lund/english/

by Muzaffar Dostqoriev, Academy of the General Prosecutors Office of Uzbekistan

I was invited to Lund University to conduct research within the European Commission funded project “Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environment”, coordinated by Sociology of Law Department.

My participation in this project as well as my secondment were realized in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Department of Sociology of Law of Lund University.

My secondment at Lund University started from November 9 and completed on December 31, 2021.

During the secondment, I completed the following activities:

– Prior to my activity at Lund university, on November 6-8, 2021, I took part in a midterm project conference on “Understanding legal cultures in Central Asia” held in Istanbul, Turkey. Representatives of a number of higher educational institutions of European Union and Central Asia (besides Lund University, there were experts from Charles University in Prague, University of Zurich, Riga University of Law and Marmara University in Turkey and other organizations) presented their presentations based on their research topic.

I presented my report on “Legal awareness and legal culture of citizens in Uzbekistan”, where I informed the participants about the current situation of the legal culture and literacy of the population in Uzbekistan as well as content of the existing legislation aimed at improving the current situation in this field.

Emphasizing the importance of measures aimed at forming a legal culture and legal consciousness in the society, I noted in my presentation that it creates a favorable environment in minds of citizens to strengthen the vital idea that “decision-making in society is the key to building a democratic state governed by the rule of law.”

The Uzbek Government provided a number of measures aimed at significantly improving the situation in this field within the frame of legal reforms. In particular, the National Legal Internet Portal started its work. The electronic portal includes a database of national legislation and additional legal information (legal dictionary, electronic platform of legal literature, online forum for discussion of draft laws, etc.), and a free legal advisory portal were launched as well.

I think the launch of such mechanisms as the legal information system called “Advice.uz” plays an important role in promoting to raise legal awareness and legal culture of the population in Uzbekistan.

Three-day conference was very fruitful. I have received useful information concerning my research topic during the conference. Presentations of other participants covered such issues of social and legal relations as the implementation of established legal norms in practice, relationships with international institutions, the practice of relationships with local institutions and various business actors as well.

In particular, Professor P. Finke (University of Zurich), who had studied the Central Asian region and Mongolia for more than 30 years, noted the positive trends in Uzbekistan, including a positive attitude among people who, to a certain extent, have acquired faith.

From the point of view of ensuring friendly business infrastructure, issues such as reducing “transactional” costs, including informal (corrupt) payments to gain market access, practices of extortion by organized groups observed in the societies of the region, as well as ensuring the observance of private property rights and guarantees of making a profit from the investment.

It was also interesting to hear the presentation of Irna Hoffman from the University of Oxford, in which she provided examples of a study carried out in one of the countries of the region on the perception and enforcement of laws in rural areas. In particular, she noted the readiness of Chinese investors to enter into informal practices in order to promote business in the country’s agricultural sector, while there was an example of one of the European companies leaving the market due to a greater commitment to honest business conduct.

A similar example was provided by professor Erhan Dogan from Marmara University (Turkey), who had interviewed Turkish entrepreneurs regarding formal and informal business practices in Uzbekistan. Professor noted the rather rapid resolution of economic disputes by the country’s courts, as well as the enforcement of court decisions.

Another researcher from Marmara University Beyhan Cagri Tuzcuoglu in his presentation outlined how Uzbekistan paid special attention to the formation and development of techno-parks aimed at developing business and an attractive investment environment. The speaker proposed to strengthen in this direction mutual cooperation with the countries of the European Union, including within the framework of this project.

The representative of the University of Zurich, Meltem Sancak revealed the peculiarities of the food culture and the possibilities for the development of gastronomic tourism in the countries of Central Asia. Citing examples of doing business in different countries of the region, she noted that in the implementation of entrepreneurship in this industry, it is necessary to consider all the factors that could contribute to its development, including the food culture of its peoples.

As a practical outcome of the conference, I made some notes and obtained ideas for myself, which I used in my research work.

It was very important to design the list of resources and make literature review concerning my research topic. In order to do that I have got acquainted with the activity of the Central library of Lund University, as well as the Library of the Faculty of social sciences and the Information Resource Centers of the Faculty of Law.

The system of library of the university is very convenient to use and well- designed. It is based on the best technologies used in the field of library-designing. In particular, the official website of Lund University (ending with “lu.se” domain) connects a number of systems: the Central Library of the University and the official websites of the faculties and their information resources. A single electronic case management system “Canvas” and other distance learning systems, as well as web-mail and wireless internet connection (Wi-Fi) are also integrated to this website. A special system provides information about the scientific activity of the university’s trainees and students, and foreign educational institutions and a number of other electronic platforms as well.

As a part of my study, I have used electronic resources database and library resources in my research area above listed. I made a literature review, based on the resources collected using this electronic system and had received relevant copies.

Based on my research work, I prepared a paper on “Factors that influence on the formation of legal consciousness and culture of citizens”, for publishing in Project team annual handbook.

I have introduced the key moments I had discovered during my research on my paper.

In particular, I have used the most popular theoretical framework in this field. Citing the works of famous sociologists like Tyler, McAdams, Erlich, Banakar and etc., I tried to explain why it is so important to learn the reasons of obeying the laws, as well as connection between people’s attitudes to laws and effectiveness of the rule of law in the society.

From my point of view, it is not possible to reach true “rule of law” society while its citizens still don’t respect laws. Once ordinary people are well informed about the content of existing laws understanding their importance they will comply with laws irrespective how strong sanctions can be provided in the case of its violation. So, government’s efforts to adopt special norms which aim increasing the existing legal culture are still effective, but it is also vital to understand that without forming a culture of a respect towards the laws the situation will lead to significant decrease the effectiveness of provided measures.

Measures provided by the government can only build a legal framework for the people’s activity towards upbringing the true legal culture. Another important issue is that it should be considered the national aspects and other factors on which the people’s legal culture was formed during the ages. For example, legal culture of the people in Uzbekistan was formed under various factors about which I have written on my research paper. I have listed number of factors among which I emphasized the impact of social media.

It is has become obvious that social media is remaining the most popular source people use in everyday life. There is an abundance of examples from real situation, including how people get legal information from social media. It is well known that ordinary people use internet as a source where they can get not only useful information for their work or everyday life (e.g. life-hacks) but receive legal advice for using it in real situations.

An example was given about how car drivers in Uzbekistan were used to ask police officers to show their so called “dislocation” – the map of the route according to which they are eligible to carry out their service.

So, this practice became most popular among a number of car drivers. The case led to maintain such kind of “environment of complying the laws” not only among drivers themselves but the traffic police officers too. The police officers, who few years ago used to behave themselves as a state official whose instructions should be followed irrespective whether they are lawful or not, became more polite and “law abiding” during the communications with other subjects of traffic.            

I have also attended a course on “Law, society and corruption” designed by the Department of Sociology of Law of Lund University. The main aim of the course was to present  corruption as an elusive concept, that needs to be studied and be understood from multi-disciplinary perspectives. With this perception as a basis, the course aims to introduce the students to global and interdisciplinary perspectives in the area of corruption and anti-corruption studies.  More specifically, the course examines the emergence, explanation, survival and presence of corruption from various social science perspectives by bringing up generally occurring theoretical, empirical and methodological questions and debates.

The course includes the following topics:

– Introduction to global indicators of corruption, constitutional state and governance and their consequences for understanding law, development and social change.

– Multi-disciplinary strategies and theoretical perspectives of corruption;

– Methodological and ethical questions in corruptions and anti-corruption studies;

– Insights from field research. 

This course was given as an optional course in the master’s program in Sociology of Law. It can also be taken as a freestanding course.

Within the frame of my research, on December 18th, I took part in a webinar on “The importance of legal consciousness and legal culture of citizens in maintaining the rule of law”, organized by Uzbek Embassy in Germany with the partnership of Sociology of Law Department of the Lund University, and Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office, and World Association of Youth of Uzbekistan.

 During my presentation, I gave a brief overview of my secondment at Lund University and introduced the content of my research topic. I provided detailed information on cooperation with Lund University and the Academy of Prosecution, the scientific and practical outcomes of the project “Legal Cultures in Central Asia”, the preliminary results of the research at Lund University as well as the positive experience of the university in teaching and research. At the same time, I made a comparative analysis of the experience of Sweden and Uzbekistan in the field of legal consciousness and legal culture, theories of scientific research in the field of sociology of law.

The event was attended by Master’s degree students of the Academy of the General Prosecutor’s Office, members of the “Youth Parliament” under the Oliy Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Uzbekistan, representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Germany and a number of educational institutions.

Saying in-brief, the secondment at Lund university was very useful for me and gave me opportunity to conduct research work in a new field and to get communicated with other project participants and share good experience.

Introduction

My name is Elnura Ibraeva and I am from Kyrgyzstan, a Central Asian country with a post-Soviet history. I am the head of the Fieldwork department and a project manager at SIAR research and consulting in Bishkek. I’ve been working at the company for 23 years since its foundation. My colleagues and I at SIAR research and consulting have conducted hundreds of sociological and marketing research for international and local organizations and businesses. Working for years, the company staff became my family.

Secondment at Marmara University in Turkey

I’ve been on a secondment hosted by Marmara University in Istanbul for three months between September to December 2021. I was invited as a guest researcher at the Faculty of Political Science and International Relations in the frame of the research and training project Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia, funded by the European Commission’s H2020 MSCA-RISE programme. The project is implemented by 12 institutions in 11 countries in Europe and Central Asia. One of the participants is Marmara University in Istanbul, to which I was seconded from SIAR research and consulting.

First Days in a New Place

I arrived in Istanbul early in the morning on September 14. Right after my arrival I went to a hotel that I booked only for three days. I thought three days would be barely enough to find an apartment located nearby the Marmara University for three months of stay. However, my thorough searches finished on finding a room for a two weeks rental period on Airbnb, which was of course not enough either. Fortunately, at the end Professor Erhan Dogan was very kind to offer me his help. Finally, I have settled at Marmara University guesthouse called Konukevi. As my accommodation was in another district, I used the transportation service provided by the university which was very comfortable and time-saving. Professor Erhan Dogan introduced me to the university staff. I was warmly welcomed by them and had wonderful time talking with them about work and life in Istanbul.

Another guest researcher from Turkmenistan Berdymyrat and I became good friends. We’ve met several times during our secondment in Istanbul. I will not forget our conversations and useful advice that he gave me.

In other words, I am immensely grateful for meeting people from abroad with different backgrounds and cultures. I am thankful for being able to learn from them and expand my practical knowledge and develop research skills. I was happy to spend these three months in Istanbul as it is my most favorite city in the world. Also, it was a good practice of my language skills, since I speak some Turkish.

Workshops

My colleague Berdymyrat and I have conducted workshops on research skills for students at the university in October, 2021. The topic of the workshop that I have conducted was about the introduction to sampling, whereas Berdymyrat focus was on using  the  Google Forms when conducting online surveys.

The introduction to sampling workshop covered several topics, including sampling methods, data collection methods, tools and instruments used in data collection, and challenges faced.

Some of the main points that were highlighted in the workshop include but not limited to:

Research

The topic of my research project is the factors shaping the business environment of entrepreneurs from Kyrgyzstan in Turkey. The goal of the research was to identify the main factors that shape business environment of immigrant entrepreneurs from Kyrgyzstan. For data collection I have conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with entrepreneursfrom Kyrgyzstan who have operating businesses in Turkey.  The sample was drawn using snow-ball method. The data collection is still in the process as some of the respondents postponed interview appointments due to their busy schedules.

The initial questionnaire was designed to determine the peculiarities of the business environment of entrepreneurs from Kyrgyzstan in Turkey. It included the following subtopics:

Professor Erhan Dogan and I have discussed and removed Environment and Technology subtopics from the initial questionnaire. Also, some of the questions were reformulated in order to make them sound easier to understand by respondents. The simpler the question, the more information you can extract from respondents.

The next important step in my research was to recruit and thus to find the right respondents to answer the research questions. From my own knowledge and the statistics of immigrating Kyrgyz people to Turkey, showed that most of them come for studies or are hired to work in service or other industries. To tell the truth, I was a bit worried that I would not be able to find Kyrgyz immigrants doing business in Turkey. I wrote an official letter to the General Consulate of the Kyrgyz Republic in Istanbul which in its turn provided with contacts of the chairman of the Kyrgyz diaspora in Turkey. The chairman gave me the contacts of several businessmen, and these businessmen further shared the contacts of their acquaintances who also do business in the country. At the end, I was able to collect as many respondents as needed for analysis.

The initial questionnaire was in Russian language, but it was later translated into Kyrgyz. I assumed there was no need to translate to Kyrgyz as back in Kyrgyzstan the vast majority of entrepreneurs prefer to be interviewed in Russian rather than in Kyrgyz language. However, it was not the case with Kyrgyz entrepreneurs in Turkey as they asked me to ask questions in Kyrgyz which of course I did. They explained their preference by learning appreciating mother tongue language from Turkish citizens. 

The duration of each interview averaged about 1 hour. Some of the interviews were conducted in Istanbul, while some others will be held in Bishkek, since interviews have been rescheduled due to conflicting schedules of the respondents. Some of the interviews were conducted face-to-face in Istanbul and others by phone. All interviews were recorded on audio with their permission and transcribed with translation from Kyrgyz into Russian.

So far, I have noticed a few things from the data collection stage:

In addition

As a project manager and head of the Fieldwork department at SIAR research and consulting, I’ve never created questionnaires, recruited respondents and conducted in-depth interviews myself. Therefore, it was a good and useful experience being involved in all these stages of research at first hand. I have never written a research article either. My colleague from Turkmenistan Berdymyrat shared his knowledge on how to write a well-structured, readable, unbiased and ethical peace of research paper. And hopefully, I will write one such by the end of the project.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to thank Marmara University staff for hospitality, especially Professor Erhan Dogan for his support on each aspect of secondment from starting with moving to Istanbul to sharing practical knowledge about writing a research project. I would also like to thank the research and training project Central Asian Law: Legal Cultures and Business Environments in Central Asia, funded by the European Commission’s H2020 MSCA-RISE programme for making my secondment possible.

By Carlo Nicoli Aldini

It’s 2:00 a.m., I’m at Tashkent Airport, sitting at the gate and waiting to board my night flight to Istanbul, whence I will take off for the final destination, my hometown Bologna. Uzbekistan says farewell to me in a way that fantastically synthesize my experience in this country: around me, very few people, if any, are wearing a mask. Living as we are in pandemic times, it is easy to conclude that this behavior is wrong, irresponsible, shortsighted, you name it. But in my near-four-month time in Tashkent and its surroundings, I have come to understand that one would hardly comprehend Uzbekistan using our (i.e., Western) common cultural schemas and points of reference. If our viewpoint is the rule-of-law as a moral measure of rightness, then the people around me are simply wrong, and their behavior is patently illegal. But then an obvious question kicks in: how is it possible that an entire terminal is basically mask-less, and that is still okay? And by possible, I mean legally and socially possible. Legally, because a law surrounding the obligation to wear masks does exist in Uzbekistan (and surely it applies in an airport terminal), but no public officials seem to be willing to enforce it, thus making this behavior legally possible. Socially, because nobody here reprimands others. Some do wear a mask, most don’t, and that seems to be okay. There’s no social sanction for this behavior. So again, how can we make sense of this? To me, this is a blatant example of legal pluralism happening in front of me. To not wear a mask is a cultural behavior that instantiates normative codes that are unofficial, but whose normative force is way stronger than state law’s normativity. I don’t know what these normative codes include specifically (some hypos: “masks are useless”, “we are in this together”, “the state is evil”, “state law is inefficient”, “state law is not in our interest”, “in the mahalla we don’t wear masks” and/or many more others…fieldwork needed!), but it seems to me obvious that they radically trump the existing official rule on the obligation to wear masks. Moreover, it is worthy to point out that one starts to comprehend these cultural codes only if the judgment over their legality/illegality is suspended. To rapidly dismiss these behaviors as illegal, in fact, prevents one from investigating what they truly mean and represent for these people. Furthermore, from the analytical point of legal pluralism, it is also technically incorrect to label these behaviors as illegal. True, they might be illegal from the viewpoint of state law but (and, in my opinion, very likely) they can still be fully legal for other normative codes existing in the Uzbek society.

This is the biggest takeaway that I take aboard with me: Uzbekistan has pushed me to try and suspend my judgments. Frequently, this effort was not easy. But anytime I managed to move beyond the surface and get over some immediate feelings of frustrations, that’s when Uzbek society has appeared to me in its complexity and charm. As one who intends to keep working and researching in the field of sociology of law, I think that Uzbekistan has showed me in real terms one of the cornerstones of any course on research ethics and methodology: to strive to set aside where you come from, so that you can try to immerse the fullest in your fieldwork environment.

Rahmat sizga, O’zbekiston! Большое спасибо, Узбекистан!

by Dildora Karimova, Lecturer in Law at Westminster International University in Tashkent

Good part of the day or Merhabalar!

Intro: My name is Dildora Karimova, I am a lecturer at the Westminster International University in Tashkent and I teach two subjects, these being Public International Law and Corporate Crime. In the framework of the Central Asian Law Project my first secondment period was July-August of 2021. Our team was hosted by Marmara University in Istanbul. 

Personal Experience: For me going to Turkey was very exciting, since I had had a chance of living in Ankara for 7 years before and I was eager to go back again. As a mother of two (6 and 2,5 y.o. at the time) I could not leave my children behind and had to travel with them. I think, travelling for work or leisure is a completely different experience for women and men 😀 My first concern was how to balance work and kids. Fortunately, we managed to find a private kindergarten which still enrolled our children despite the summer break. So, my children learned some Turkish too and had a lovely experience of discovering a new country and people. 

Research experience: Being a city that 16 times bigger in area and 8 times more populated than Tashkent, Istanbul has excellent public transportation facilities which are quite easy to navigate and very convenient and all the public facilities were constantly sanitized, and mask regime was quite strict, so we felt safe regardless of whether we were at work or shopping groceries or hopping from bus to subway. From the place of our stay, we had several alternative ways to travel to the Marmara University Goztepe Campus. There were buses, metrobuses, metro and dolmush circulating frequently and without delays.

Istanbul welcomed us with its hot summer and fresh sea breezes, friendly and warm people, summer sales, delicious food and amazing views. This stay will certainly be a sweet nostalgy added to our memory thrift-box.

The topic of my research is “Perspectives of introducing corporate criminal liability in Uzbekistan in the example of the crime of bribery”. The research is concerned with studying whether there is a need in introducing corporate criminal liability into the new Criminal Code of Uzbekistan which is at the stage of development. International organizations, including UNODC, in their reports are indicating that as the next stage of complying with international obligations under the Convention against Corruption, Uzbekistan needs to introduce corporate criminal liability to the crimes related to corruption, such as bribery.

Since Turkey is a civil law country which did not introduce corporate criminal liability and is a member of the UN Convention as well and many cultural and social aspects are similar to Uzbek, I believe, the secondment destination was relevant and to the point.

Another factor that contributed to the overall positive experience was that I am fluent in Turkish and had no language barrier and language was not an obstacle at all. So, range of the specialists that I could interview was not limited only to those who spoke English.

However, due to the summer break and the famous virus there were not many colleagues available at Marmara University or in general at other universities in Turkey. I tried to contact the experts in the area, such as Prof. Bahadir Ozturk from Istanbul Kultur Universitesi. I have managed to get an interview from a source working in the Prosecutor’s office who requested to stay anonymous.

Overall, it was evidenced that despite some strong arguments in favor of introducing corporate criminal liability in Turkey, the system is not considering it in the near future.

Future Plan: The next step in my plan is to interview some experts and business community in Uzbekistan to forecast the perspectives of CCL introduction more accurately.

Acknowledgment: Using this opportunity, I would like to thank Marmara University for their warm welcome and a nice room with all the amenities and Central Asian Law Project team for organizing our trips.

Carlo Nicoli Aldini, a project assistant in the Central Asian Law Project, has just been offered a PhD position at the Agenda 2030 School at Lund University. Carlo was chosen at the end of a selection process which consisted of 182 applications for two positions. We asked Carlo to describe his research interests and PhD project:

“I was born in Bologna, Italy, where I received a law degree in 2014. I then worked for approximately three years as a legal consultant in the corporate law sector, and then quit the profession as I was looking for a different, more scholarly way to “make sense” of my legal knowledge. I thus embarked on a three-year back-in-school journey, and I first obtained an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree from Cornell Law School in 2019, and then a Master of Science degree in the Sociology of Law from Lund University in 2021. These degrees have helped me to expand my knowledge on law and to problematize its presence and impact in society. In particular, I have developed research interests on legal pluralism and its intersection with legal culture and legal consciousness. Generally put, I am interested in understanding (1) how multiple legal systems coexist in the same social arena, how they interact, change, and influence one another; (2) how these interactions vary across cultures and political contexts; and (3) what role individuals’ agency plays in these processes.  

These interests of mine are reflected in my PhD project, which aims to comprehend how populations who have been invested by environmental tragedies have relied upon law(s) as a tool of social resilience, and how these practices vary from democratic to authoritarian political regimes. More specifically, I have designed a comparative study of Italy and Uzbekistan, respectively a democratic and an authoritarian regime, which have both been a theater of an environmental disaster in recent years. On the one hand, Italy houses the largest steel factory in Europe, ILVA, whose pollution has devastated the city of Taranto and substantially increased the rate of death by cancer of the local population. On the other hand, Uzbekistan is home to the Aral Sea, once the fourth biggest lake on Earth, which has dramatically reduced its size due to the drainage of water from its two tributaries decided during the Soviet planning of the cotton economy. The choice of Uzbekistan and Italy is also informed by the fact that both countries display traits of legal pluralism, and thus my analysis aims to understand how practices of social resilience are shaped by norms coming from multiple legal systems (both institutional and informal). The intention with my study is, therefore, to grasp how the local populations have relied upon law(s) to resist, adapt, and create new opportunities in the face of environmental tragedies, and to ultimately understand how these practices vary depending on the existing political regime.

My PhD project is funded by the Faculty of Social Science at Lund University, and it is part of the Agenda 2030 School, which aims to create multidisciplinary knowledge to foster the implementation of the UN’s Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.”