Scientific research results in pandemic conditions (COVID-19)
32
References:
1. Address of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat
Mirziyoyev to Oliy Majlis . The newspaper "Narodnoe slovo" of January 24,
2020 URL :
https : // nrm . uz / contentf ? doc = 409961
2. Abdurakhmanov K.Kh. “Digital Uzbekistan - 2030” will lead out of the
laggards. Newspaper "Narodnoe slovo" № 74 (7545) of April 10, 2020
3. Digital economy: features and development trends / Access mode:
http://investin.com/About/Economy
4. Nematov J. A., Enikeeva A. G. Information technology in higher
educational institution // Scientific and methodical electronic journal
"Concept". - 2017. - T. 14. - p.192-195. - URL: http://e-
koncept.ru/2017/770645.htm.
Bekov Ikhtiyor, Candidate of legal sciences, Associate Professor, Tashkent
State Law University, Uzbekistan
PARLIAMENT ACTIVITIES DURING A PANDEMIC: EXPERIENCE OF FOREIGN
COUNTRIES AND UZBEKISTAN
I. Bekov
Abstract: This article analyzes the activities and working methods of
world parliaments during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as materials
collected by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The activities of the chambers
of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan during a pandemic with
specific examples are disclosed. The article concludes relevant proposals for
amending legislation to improve the activities of the chambers and
structures of the Oliy Majlis during a pandemic.
Keywords: Covid-19, pandemic, Inter-Parliamentary Union, parliament,
Oliy Majlis, plenary meeting, fractions, committees, Kengash chambers,
remote work, rule of procedures.
It is no secret that the threat of coronavirus has already reached the
world, with the exception of a few countries, and is one of the main problems
on the agenda. Whether it is an epidemic or a pandemic, it is only natural
that the parliament should continue to function, especially if it is within its
jurisdiction. Well, the question naturally arises as to how parliaments work
in such a situation.
Parliaments around the world have been forced to change their
procedures in response to the new situation caused by the Covid-19
pandemic. They changed the procedures and forms of voting, plenary
Scientific research results in pandemic conditions (COVID-19)
33
sessions, committee meetings, and parliamentary oversight. Almost all
parliaments around the world have moved to a limited system.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Innovation Center, an
international organization that unites most of the world's parliaments, has
been compiling data on how the world's parliaments work during the
coronavirus crisis [1]. According to him, there are three different practices
of organizing parliamentary sessions around the world.
Under the first practice, parliaments continued to hold sessions in
person with some restrictions. That is, the number of general meetings and
committee meetings was reduced. The number of parliamentarians and staff
in the building has been reduced. Some have been transferred to remote
work. Parliamentary venues have been relocated, and large halls have been
used to provide more effective social distance.
For example, the Swedish and Estonian parliaments asked their staff to
stay at home only if they felt unwell or had symptoms.
In the second practice, parliaments continued to hold virtual sessions
using remote working methods. Many parliaments have taken advantage of
remote working. However, this raises a number of issues, including the need
to establish a legal framework for remote operation, security and
authentication.
In many countries, including German, Lithuanian, and Norwegian
parliaments, video conferencing has been introduced instead of face-to-face
meetings.
The French and Dutch parliaments encouraged only the most important
staff to come to work, and transferred the rest to remote work [2].
The British Parliament went into "hybrid" mode on April 22 this year. In
other words, the fate of the country is being decided by politicians without
leaving home. This means that some members of parliament work through
the Zoom platform, while others visit Westminster Palace. In the lower
house, 50 deputies (out of 650) are allowed to sit in one place at a time, while
the rest of the deputies communicate via video. The Zoom platform allows
only 120 participants to communicate, so not everyone has the right to
speak. [3].
In the third practice, parliaments did not convene. This was due to the
fact that the parliaments declared a parliamentary holiday. The lower house
of the Canadian Parliament has considered extending the term of office for
five weeks (from early March to April 20) after inter-chamber deliberations.
However, on March 23, the chamber reconvened to introduce economic
emergency measures and then closed again.
The New Zealand Parliament amended its bylaws to allow a special
committee to convene instead of all members of the House. It should be
noted that some parliaments are amending laws and procedures
Scientific research results in pandemic conditions (COVID-19)
34
(regulations, rules) to ensure remote operation. In Spain and Brazil, in
particular, the chambers have amended their rules to allow for virtual
sessions. Other parliaments, including Estonia, Israel, and the United
Kingdom, have relaxed existing rules to allow committees to meet virtually.
Below, we would like to highlight the experience of Uzbekistan on this
issue. It is known that on March 16, 2020, a quarantine was declared in our
country with the detection of the first patient with coronavirus. It should be
noted that the work in the chambers of the Oliy Majlis has not stopped, on
the contrary, the work continues. From this day on, the parliamentary style
of work is gaining new significance due to the situation. If we look at this in
concrete examples, we should emphasize the following aspects.
First, on March 17, 2020, deputies of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy
Majlis went to their constituencies to study the current situation in the field
of medicine, to provide assistance to local primary health care facilities, and
to provide comprehensive support to doctors [5].
Secondly, on March 20, 2020, at the initiative of the President, the
Legislative Chamber held its first unconventional meeting with the
participation of deputies and permanent senators, members of the
Government headed by the Deputy Prime Minister and officials. It included
a video conference on March 19 on mitigating the impact of the coronavirus
pandemic on living standards and sectors of the economy. The parties also
discussed the content of the tasks set forth in the Decree “On Priority
Measures to Mitigate the Negative Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic and
the Global Crisis on Economic Sectors” [6]. The factions of political parties in
the Legislative Chamber and the committees of the Oliy Majlis chambers set
additional tasks in accordance with the Decree.
Third, an internal electronic system has been set up in parliament to
facilitate the electronic exchange of all documents. Today, the main activities
of the parliament and deputies continue electronically. Discussions of draft
laws, control over the implementation of laws by the executive branch,
reception and processing of citizens' appeals are also carried out
electronically [7].
Fourth, for the safety and health of members of parliament, the use of
videoconferencing has been used in the practice of holding sessions and
meetings of parliamentary chambers, depending on the situation. On March
24, 2020, the third plenary session of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the
Republic of Uzbekistan [8] and on March 27, 2020, the next working meeting
of the Council of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of
Uzbekistan [9] were held for the first time by videoconference.
In particular, in the case of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis,
since the announcement of quarantine measures, all faction meetings and
committee meetings have been held by videoconference. In addition,
Scientific research results in pandemic conditions (COVID-19)
35
members of the government and representatives of the subjects of the right
of legislative initiative were provided with the opportunity to participate in
the plenary sessions of the chamber by videoconference remotely.
To determine the procedure for holding meetings of the Legislative
Chamber by means of video conferences and creating a regulatory
framework, was adopted the temporary Regulation “On holding meetings of
the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan by
means of video conferences during the fight against the spread of
coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Republic of Uzbekistan”. [10]
Fifth, based on the constitutional powers of parliament and the current
situation, in a short time, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On
Amendments and Addenda to the Criminal Code, Criminal Procedure Code
and the Code of Administrative Responsibility of the Republic of Uzbekistan”
[11] was adopted to strengthen liability for violation of quarantine rules.
Sixth, party factions in the lower house of parliament are making
various proposals to the government depending on the situation. For
example, members of the SDP "Adolat" faction in their election program
have given great importance to reforming the health care system and raising
the status of doctors, as well as to the high status of doctors in our country,
to provide decent services to the population. They proposed to the
government to create equal conditions for workers in the sector at the
national, regional, city and district levels, and to increase the salaries of all
employees in the sector [12].
Seventh, the leaders of the chambers of the Oliy Majlis [13] made
speeches on their social media pages, in which they appealed to our people
to show solidarity in the days of trial and to fully comply with discipline
during the quarantine period.
Based on the recommendations of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and
the international experience of world parliaments, the following conclusions
and proposals can be made:
1. Complete the introduction of the "Electronic Parliament" system as
soon as possible in order to improve the organization of the work of all
structures of the Oliy Majlis on the basis of information technology;
2. Strengthening the legal framework governing the activities of the
chambers of the Oliy Majlis, based on the activities and experience of the
pandemic, the legislation that determines the constitutional and legal
framework, the procedure for remote operation of the parliament and its
structures;
3. Minimize the number of meetings, sessions and meetings in the
parliament in the context of a pandemic, and make extensive use of
videoconferencing. This will also significantly reduce the financial costs of
these activities;
Scientific research results in pandemic conditions (COVID-19)
36
4. It is necessary to introduce such a practice in the chambers of the Oliy
Majlis, according to which:
- Videoconferencing should be used only for the consideration of bills
related to the elimination of COVID-19 coronavirus, national security and
defense, economic well-being and the rights of citizens. Naturally, in a
pandemic, it is not possible to review and discuss bills in the same way as
before;
- The heads of the chambers of the Oliy Majlis, committees, factions of
political parties and 3/1 of the deputies may take the initiative to convene a
session of the chamber;
- Deputies of the Legislative Chamber and members of the Senate vote
on this or that issue by saying the number of the bill and their name. In this
case, the videoconferencing system is recorded on special media.
In general, the effective organization of parliamentary activities in the
context of a pandemic is an important guarantee of its legislative, oversight
and analytical functions. After all, in the words of the President, the people's
representatives should become the main initiators and executors of the
drastic and effective reforms being carried out in our country. This task
requires the activities of the parliament to be adapted to any conditions.
References:
1.
How to run a parliament during a pandemic: Q and A.
https://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2020-04/how-run-parliament-
during-pandemic-q-and
2.
Coronavirus: How are parliaments worldwide working during the
pandemic?
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/parliament-and-
elections/coronavirus-how-are-parliaments-worldwide-working-during-
the-pandemic/
3.
Virtual
House
of
Commons:
End
of
week
one.
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2020/april1/virtual-house-
of-commons-end-of-week-one/
4.
D. Turaev. How the world parliaments and the parliament of
Uzbekistan work today? [Д.Тўраев. Бугун дунё парламентлари қандай
ишлаяпти?
Ўзбекистон
парламентичи?]
http://uza.uz/oz/society/bugun-dunye-parlamentlari-anday-ishlayapti-
zbekiston-parlame-10-04-2020
5.
Deputies focus the main attention on the support of doctors.
[Депутатлар асосий эътиборни шифокорларни қўллаб-қувватлашга
қаратади]
http://parliament.gov.uz/uz/events/other/30459/
6.
Инсонпарварлик моҳияти билан йўғрилган тарихий ҳужжат
[Historical document permeated with the essence of humanism.]
Scientific research results in pandemic conditions (COVID-19)
37
7.
The legislative chamber of the Oliy Majlis also introduced a
quarantine procedure. [ Олий Мажлис Қонунчилик палатасида ҳам
карантин
тартиби
жорий
этилди]
8.
Information on the Third Plenary Session of the Senate of the Oliy
Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan. [Ўзбекистон Республикаси Олий
Мажлиси Сенатининг учинчи ялпи мажлиси тўғрисида ахборот].
http://senat.uz/uz/lists/view/1262
9.
How was the Lower chamber Council meeting held? [Қуйи палата
Кенгаши
йиғилиши
қандай
ўтказилди?]
http://parliament.gov.uz/uz/events/other/30511/
10.
Is it legal to hold a Parliamentary meeting via videoconference?
хПарламент мажлисини видеоконференцалоқа режимида ўтказиш
қонунийми?]
http://parliament.gov.uz/uz/events/chamber/30739/
11.
Responsibility for violations of quarantine rules is imposed.
[Карантин
қоидаларини
бузганлик
учун
жавобгарлик
кучайтирилмоқда.]
http://parliament.gov.uz/uz/events/chamber/30483/
12.
Does the monthly salary of medical staff increase? [Тиббиёт
ходимларининг
ойлиги
ошириладими?]
http://parliament.gov.uz/uz/events/other/30455/
13.
T. Norboeva. Bugungi qadriyatlarimizga xos boʼlgan birdamlik har
qachongidan
koʼra
koʼproq
muhim.
[Т.
Норбоева.
Бугунги
қадриятларимизга хос бўлган бирдамлик ҳар қачонгидан кўра кўпроқ
муҳим.]
http://uza.uz/oz/society/tanzila-norboeva-bugun-
adriyatlarimizga-khos-b-lgan-birdamli-02-04-2020
14.
N.Ismoilov. A healthy environment in society is a product of politics.
[Н.Исмоилов. Жамиятдаги соғлом муҳит – сиёсат ҳосиласи.]
http://xs.uz/uzkr/post/zhamiyatdagi-soglom-muhit-siyosat-hosilasi
Mirjalol Rustamaliyev, the student of Namangan State University
“TEMUR TUZUKLARI” - THE BASIS OF JUST STATE
M. Rustamaliyev
Abstract:: This article discusses Amir tuzuklari, a product of Amir
Temur's views on statehood and diplomacy, military, skills, creative
potential, science, art and architecture.
