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.