THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY (ISSN- 2693-0803)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE12
58
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
PUBLISHED DATE: - 30-12-2024
DOI: -
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume06Issue12-11
PAGE NO.: - 58-65
PROSPECTS FOR IMPROVING THE
LEGISLATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
PROCEEDINGS: LEGAL STATUS OF THE
PARTIES
Guljahon Madrakhimova
Researcher, Tashkent State University of Law, Uzbekistan
INTRODUCTION
At the current stage of the country’s development,
the successful implementation of large-scale
reforms and the achievement of the goals of the
Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-
2026 require the rule of law in relations with
administrative bodies, ensuring the rights and
legitimate interests of citizens and business
entities, and establishing effective judicial control
over the activities of state bodies and officials.
Article 55 of the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan guarantees everyone the right to
judicial protection of their rights and freedoms, and
to appeal to the court against unlawful decisions,
actions and inaction of state bodies and other
organizations, as well as their officials.
Administrative courts were established on June 1,
2017 in order to ensure reliable judicial protection
of the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of
citizens and business entities, to implement the
constitutional norm for the implementation of
administrative court proceedings, as well as to
increase the legal culture of the population.
RESULTS
It was determined that the primary task of
administrative courts is to ensure the rule of law in
the relations of citizens and business entities with
state bodies, as well as to effectively protect their
rights and legitimate interests.
In 2017
–
2023, administrative courts reviewed
98,861 applications (complaints), of which 59,475,
or 60.2 percent, were satisfied, restoring the
violated rights of citizens and legal entities.
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Abstract
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
59
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
The Code of Administrative Judicial Procedure of
the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted in 2018,
played an important role in ensuring the rule of law
in relations with administrative bodies, protecting
the violated or disputed rights, freedoms, and
legitimate interests of citizens and legal entities,
and created a solid legal foundation for the
development of administrative justice in the
country.
The Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for
2022
–
2026 envisages, as one of the main goals of
transforming the principles of justice and the rule
of law into the most basic and necessary conditions
for development in our country, the establishment
of effective judicial control over the activities of
state bodies and officials, and the expansion of the
scope of application of judicial control by
improving the system of considering complaints
against decisions of officials in administrative
courts.
Paragraph 5 of the Action Program for the
Implementation of the Short-Term Strategy for
Bringing the Judicial System to a Qualitatively New
Level for 2023
–
2026, approved by the Decree of
the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PF-
11 dated January 16, 2023, stipulates the
development of a Concept for Improving
Administrative Judicial Proceedings in order to
improve administrative judicial proceedings based
on a critical analysis of law enforcement practice
and taking into account advanced foreign
experience.
The “Uzbekistan –
2030” strategy also sets out
tasks for establishing effective judicial control over
the activities of state bodies and officials and
further developing the administrative justice
system.
It should be emphasized that the current version of
the Code of Administrative Judicial Procedure
demonstrates that it does not adequately meet the
requirements of establishing effective judicial
control over the activities of state bodies and
officials, ensuring full and reliable protection of the
violated rights of citizens and business entities, and
international standards in the field of
administrative justice.
From this point of view, based on certain problems
arising in the practice of applying law related to the
legal status of the parties in the legislation of
administrative court proceedings, we believe that
it is necessary to focus on the following issues.
First of all, Paragraph 25 of the Action Plan for 2024
on Ensuring the Rule of Law and Organizing Public
Administration in the Service of the People of the
Strategy “Uzbekistan –
2030”, approved by the
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan No. PF-37 dated February 21, 2024,
provides for the establishment of measures to
ensure the personal participation of persons
participating in the case (respondents) in court
sessions, as a rule, in order to ensure the rule of law
in relations with administrative bodies and
guarantee the protection of the rights of citizens or
entrepreneurs.
In judicial practice, there are problems in ensuring
the participation of responsible officials even in
cases where it is necessary for a comprehensive,
complete and correct resolution of the case, which
has a negative impact on making a legal and fair
decision. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce
into procedural legislation a provision requiring
the mandatory participation of an official of the
state div whose decision (action) is being
appealed or his (her) representative in the court
session.
Article 47 of the Civil Code of the Republic of
Uzbekistan stipulates that state bodies and other
persons may file applications to protect the rights
and legally protected interests of citizens and legal
entities, and that the said bodies and persons who
file applications shall exercise all the rights of the
applicant and assume his/her obligations.
Based on the meaning of this article, state bodies
and other persons submit applications for the
purpose of protecting the rights and legally
protected interests of citizens and legal entities,
and exercise all the rights of the applicant and
assume his/her obligations.
However, in judicial practice, in very many cases,
state bodies and other persons, in order to protect
the rights and legally protected interests of citizens
and legal entities, apply to administrative courts
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
60
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
without directly participating in court sessions and
apply for the case to be considered in their absence.
During the study, when statistical data on the
participation of state bodies and other persons in
cases in administrative courts during 2023 and the
first quarter of 2024 were studied, it was found
that in more than 50 percent of cases, state bodies
and other persons submitted applications to the
court to protect the rights and interests of the
applicant, but did not participate in the court
hearings themselves.
This shows that some state bodies (prosecutors’
offices, justice departments, regional branches of
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, etc.) are
taking advantage of the privilege granted to them
by law, namely exemption from paying state duty,
and are coming to court without first submitting an
application to the court.
Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan
“On the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the
Republic of
Uzbekistan” states that the Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of the Republic of
Uzbekistan is responsible for ensuring favorable
legal, economic and social conditions for the
implementation of entrepreneurial initiatives,
developing mutually beneficial partnerships
between the business community and state
authorities and management bodies, other bodies
and organizations, strengthening guarantees for
the protection of the rights and legitimate interests
of business entities, it was established with the aim
of comprehensively assisting in improving the
business and investment climate, and supporting
the foreign economic activities of business entities
with all measures. Article 21 provides for the
submission of claims to courts without paying state
fees, mainly in the interests of the members of the
chamber, and for appealing against decisions of
state and economic management bodies, local
government bodies, and actions (inaction) of their
officials.
Article 10 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan
“On State Duty” provides that the Chamber of
Commerce and Industry of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and its territorial departments are
exempted from paying state duty on applications
filed in the interests of members of the chamber
against decisions, actions (inaction) of state bodies,
other bodies authorized to carry out administrative
and legal activities, self-government bodies of
citizens, their officials.
In some cases, the Chamber of Commerce and
Industry of the Republic of Uzbekistan and its
regional departments filed applications with the
court only in their name, without defending the
rights and interests of the applicant in court, and
instead requesting that the case be considered
without their participation.
Taking into account the above, it would be
appropriate to stipulate in Article 47 of the CACPR
that the participation of state bodies and other
persons is mandatory in cases provided for by law
or when the court finds it necessary to participate
in the case, as well as in cases initiated on the basis
of applications from state bodies and other
persons.
Secondly, The Law “On Administrative Procedures”
establishes the procedures to be followed by the
administrative bodies in the adoption of an
administrative document. Although Article 59 of
the Law stipulat
es that “if an interested person,
relying on the legal force of an administrative act,
has used property obtained on the basis of an
administrative act, entered into a transaction to
dispose of his/her property, or otherwise used the
benefits and privileges established in the
administrative act, his trust must be protected,”
mechanisms for protecting the trust of interested
persons in an administrative act have not been
developed and there are problems with their
application in practice. It is also worth noting that
the provisions of this Law are not fully
implemented in practice. Although, according to it,
the interested person must be compensated for
property damage caused or inevitable due to trust
in the legal force of an administrative act.
According to statistics, out of a total of 636 cases
considered under this article of the above-
mentioned Law in 2022
–
2023, 265 of them were
rejected. This shows that Article 59 of the
aforementioned Law limits the opportunities for
interested parties who have acted in good faith to
protect their rights.
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
61
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
For this reason, it is necessary to introduce the
principle of “trustee protection” of the persons who
believe in the legal force of the document of the
state div as a principle directly applicable to the
operation of the administrative court.
Thirdly, In order to participate as an applicant in
administrative court proceedings, the applicant
must first have procedural rights and legal
capacity. The procedural rights and obligations of
persons participating in the case are based on the
principles of the Constitution of the Republic of
Uzbekistan and the legislation on administrative
judicial proceedings and are implemented in
compliance with them. The existence of the right to
apply to the court is a constitutional guarantee and
ensures the protection of citizens by the courts.
When hearing cases in administrative courts, the
judge must first verify that the applicant has
procedural rights and legal capacity.
If the applicant does not have legal capacity, the
application shall be returned in accordance with
Article 134 of the Code of Administrative Court
Procedure, or if the application has been accepted
for processing, the application shall be dismissed in
accordance with Article 105 of the Code of
Administrative Court Procedure.
Article 99 of the Code of Administrative Court
Procedure stipulates that the court must suspend
proceedings in the event of the death of a citizen
who is a participant in the case, if the conflicting
legal relations allow for legal succession, or if the
citizen who is a participant in the case loses his
legal capacity.
In order for the administrative courts to resume
proceedings in this case, it is necessary to
determine the legal successor of the person
participating in the case, to appoint a
representative for the incapacitated person.
Article 43 of the Code of Administrative Court
Procedure defines the concept of procedural legal
succession, which stipulates that in the event of the
withdrawal of one of the parties from a legal
relationship established by a dispute or a judicial
act (in the event of reorganization of a legal entity,
death of a citizen, and other cases of change of
persons in obligations), the court shall replace this
party with his legal successor.
In this case, the courts will have to determine
whether the case allows for procedural legal
succession or not, based on the importance of the
case.
Article 27 of the Code of Administrative Court
Procedure lists the cases to be decided by
administrative courts, and all these cases do not
allow legal succession.
For example, cases regarding pension awards or
suspension of a lawyer’s license do not allow for
legal succession and are considered individual
cases.
The above studies were conducted only on the
competence to act when the applicant is an
individual.
In addition, legal entities and individual
entrepreneurs acquire procedural legal capacity
from the moment of state registration, and
procedural legal capacity ceases in connection with
the liquidation of a legal entity, its removal from the
state register, or the suspension or expiration of
the individual entrepreneur’s license. Procedural
legal capacity is confirmed by constituent
documents, a certificate of state registration, an
extract from the state register of legal entities, and
if the party to the proceedings is a foreign legal
entity, by documents confirming its status. The
general basis for participation in administrative
court proceedings for all persons participating in
the case is procedural capacity. If we analyze
separately the legal capacity and legal capacity in
conducting administrative court cases, the issue of
procedural legal capacity of the persons
participating in the case also occupies a special
place. Procedural capacity is the ability to acquire
procedural rights and dut
ies through one’s own
actions.
A legal entity shall have civil legal capacity in
accordance with the objectives of its activity
provided for in its founding documents. Its legal
capacity comes into existence from the moment of
its creation and ends from the moment of
completion of its liquidation.
The special legal capacity of a legal entity is
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
62
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
determined by its charter, regulations or
legislation. A legal entity may engage in certain
types of activities, the list of which is established in
the legislative act, only on the basis of a special
permit (license).
It is very common for farmers or peasant farms to
apply as applicants to administrative courts. When
considering cases in this category, courts will have
to pay attention to whether or not legal succession
is allowed by farmers or peasant farms.
Article 21 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan
“On Farming” states that the property of a farm is
inherited in accordance with the legislation. It is
stated that heirs who continue to operate the farm
are exempt from paying state duty for the issuance
of a certificate of the right to inheritance.
In addition, Article 4 of the Law of the Republic of
Uzbekistan “On Dehqan Farming” states that a
citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan who has
reached the age of eighteen, is legally capable, and
has been granted a land plot for running a dehqan
farm on the basis of a life-long inheritance or lease
(secondary lease) or a stateless person
permanently residing in the territory of the
Republic of Uzbekistan may be the head of a
dehqan farm.
The head of a dehqan farm acts on behalf of the
dehqan farm without a power of attorney,
including representing the interests of the dehqan
farm in relations with legal entities and individuals
and concluding contracts on behalf of the dehqan
farm.
In the event of a temporary loss of working capacity
or a long-term absence of the head of a dekhkan
farm (conscription into military service, admission
to a higher educational institution for full-time
education, election to elective positions, etc.), he
has the right to delegate the authority to perform
his duties to one of the members of this farm.
In the event of the death of the head of the dehqan
farm, a new head of the dehqan farm is determined
by mutual agreement between the members of the
dehqan farm. In this case, the right of lifelong
ownership of the land plot, which is inherited, is
transferred to the new head of the dehqan farm by
inheritance, and the corresponding amendments
are made to the lease (secondary lease) agreement
for land plots leased (secondary lease) for the
management of the dehqan farm.
When the head of the dehkan farm reaches
retirement age or completely loses his ability to
work, as well as when he is called up for military
service, enters a higher education institution for
full-time education, or is elected to elective
positions, a new head of the dehkan farm may be
appointed upon the proposal of the head of the
dehkan farm and upon mutual agreement between
the members of the dehkan farm, who shall be
granted the right of lifelong inheritance of the land
plot, and in the case of land plots leased (secondary
lease) for the management of the dehkan farm, the
relevant amendments shall be made to the lease
(secondary lease) agreement regarding the new
head of the dehkan farm.
Article 131 of the Code of Administrative Court
Procedure of the Republic of Uzbekistan states that,
unless otherwise provided by this Code, the judge
shall individually decide on the issue of accepting
the application (complaint) for proceedings,
refusing to accept it, returning it, or transferring it
to another court according to its jurisdiction, no
later than five days from the date of receipt of the
application (complaint) by the court.
However, in judicial practice, the five-day period
for deciding whether to accept or reject an
application is considered too short.
Because, according to Article 140 of the Civil
Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the
judge, when preparing the case for trial, shall
perform the following actions no later than five
days from the date of receipt of the application
(complaint):
1) considers the issue of involving another
defendant or a third party to participate in the case;
2) informs interested persons about the conduct of
the case;
3) informs persons participating in the case about
their rights to participate in the court session via
videoconference;
4) suggests persons participating in the case, other
organizations, and their officials to take certain
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
63
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
actions, including providing documents and
information that are important for resolving the
dispute;
5) summons witnesses;
6) considers the issue of appointing an expert
examination;
7) assists the parties in obtaining the necessary
evidence, and requests it at the request of the
parties;
8) resolves issues of taking preliminary protective
measures and securing evidence at the request of
the parties;
9) considers issues of joining the case by other
persons, consolidation of cases into a single
proceeding or separation of the claims filed into
separate proceedings, and holding a mobile court
session;
10) explains to the persons participating in the case
their procedural rights and obligations;
11) takes measures to reconcile the parties.
The judge also takes other actions aimed at
ensuring the correct and timely resolution of the
case.
In order to ensure the implementation of the
requirements of Article 140 of the Code, it would be
appropriate to carry out the preliminary hearing
stage in the administrative courts in order to
ensure that the cases are considered in the courts
in a high-quality manner and that the court
decisions are legally valid.
At this stage, the applicant’s requirements are
clarified, shortcomings in the application are
indicated, the necessary evidence is proposed to
prove the stated requirements, the right to
withdraw the application is explained, and in the
event of the application being withdrawn, the
issues of refunding the paid state fee are resolved.
The introduction of the institution of a preliminary
hearing in administrative courts will also serve to
ensure the inherent rights of citizens related to
filing a complaint. It would be advisable for the
courts to pay special attention to the issues of
determining the procedural legal capacity of the
applicant and involving him as a legal successor in
the consideration of the case.
Although Article 39 of the Code of Administrative
Procedure mentions the rights and obligations of
the parties, it only indicates the rights of the
parties, but does not fully reflect their powers.
The administrative legislation of many foreign
countries (for example, the Procedural Code of
Ukraine) specifies the obligations of the
participants in the proceedings, which stipulate
that the participant in the proceedings must
exercise his rights in good faith, that the court shall
not allow the participants in the proceedings or
their representatives or advisers to abuse their
rights, delay the proceedings or mislead the court,
and that a court fine shall be imposed on a
participant in the proceedings who intentionally
interferes with the proper, prompt and economical
consideration of the case.
Therefore, it would be appropriate to specify the
above obligations of the parties along with their
rights in Article 39 of the Code of Administrative
Procedure of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
This, in turn, prevents abuse of procedural rights
by the parties, ensures that court hearings are not
unnecessarily prolonged, and most importantly,
that the rights of other participants in the legal
process are not violated.
In addition, in judicial practice, cases such as
submitting
unfounded,
incorrectly
drafted
lawsuits, complaints, fabricated motions to request
evidence, appoint an expert examination, and
unfounded motions to challenge a judge in order to
deliberately prolong the trial are widespread in
judicial proceedings.
Abuse of procedural rights leads to going beyond
the scope of exercising the right, and as a result, to
an unfair result for the opposing party in terms of
resolving the case correctly, in a timely manner,
and ensuring equality of the parties. In this case, for
any party to any administrative process, of course,
it may seem that their rights have been violated in
some sense, but abuse of procedural rights can
generally lead to a violation of the rights of the
opposing party.
CONCLUSION
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
64
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
Today, it will be necessary for the courts to define
the limits of the abuse of rights and to develop legal
norms regarding the application of court fines to
the persons who abuse the rights.
Also, in Article 39 of the Code of Administrative
Procedure, the applicant has procedural rights
such as presenting evidence and participating in
the examination of evidence.
However, there are no procedural norms regarding
the legal assessment of electronic evidence by the
courts, although scientific definitions of the
concept of evidence have been developed in the
administrative procedural law, but conceptual
views on the concept of electronic evidence and the
procedural aspects of their use have not been
developed in this field of law.
Therefore,
legislation
on
administrative
proceedings stipulates that the applicant
submitting electronic evidence must indicate in
what circumstances relevant to the case it can be
determined with electronic evidence, and when
submitting a petition to request electronic
evidence, indicate which electronic evidence it is
and state the grounds for the electronic evidence
being in the possession of a specific person, it
would be appropriate to introduce provisions that
electronic evidence requested by the court from
state bodies, legal entities or citizens may be sent
directly to the court, that the court may also issue a
letter of request to the applicant who has filed a
petition to request electronic evidence, granting
the right to receive electronic evidence for
submission to the court, and that parties, legal
entities and individuals may submit electronic
evidence on physical electronic storage devices
(flash drives, disks, mobile phones, etc.) or using
information and telecommunication means.
In general, improving the legislation on
administrative court proceedings is of great
importance today. In particular, it is important to
clearly define the legal status of the parties in
administrative court proceedings, paying attention
to the specific nature of administrative court
proceedings in this regard.
REFERENCES
1.
Administrative
proceedings:
Workshop:
Textbook / Edited by V.V. Yarkov, K.A.
Malyushin.
–
Moscow: Statut, 2016.
2.
Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on
Administrative Judicial Procedure // National
Database
of
Legislative
Documents,
12.10.2018, No. 03/18/496/2043 (lex.uz)
3.
Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of
Uzbekistan // National Database of Legislative
Documents, 26.12.2023 й 0
3/23/887/0972-
сон(lex.uz)
4.
Economic Procedural Code of the Republic of
Uzbekistan // National Database of Legislative
Documents, 27.12.2023 й.03/23/888/0976
-
сон(lex.uz)
5.
Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On the
Prosecutor’s Office”, // National Databa
se of
Legislative Documents, No. 257-2 of
29.08.2001 (lex.uz)
6.
Madrahimova G. The issue of fair use of
procedural rights in conducting administrative
court cases// Journal of Eastern history,
politics
and
law,
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37547/supsci-ojhpl-04-07-
07., 2024 ISSN 2181-2780
7.
Rec 2005 (63) / https://www.venice.coe.int/
8.
WebForms/pages/?p=01_Presentation&lang=
RU
9.
Shayzakov Sh. Organizational and legal basis of
prosecutor’s participation in administrative
court proceedings// 2021.
10.
Madrahimova G. Some aspects of the
applicant’s legal status as a participant in
administrative court proceedings// Journal of
Eastern history, politics and law, DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37547/supsci-ojhpl-04-10-
11., 2024 ISSN 2181-2780
11.
Paragraph 52 of the State Program on the
Implementation of the Strategy of Actions in
Five Priority Areas of Development of the
Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021 in the
“Year of Development of Science, Education
and the Digital Economy”, adopted by t
he
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan No. 5953 dated 02.03.2020.
THE USA JOURNALS
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCES (ISSN
–
2689-0992)
VOLUME 06 ISSUE06
65
https://www.theamericanjournals.com/index.php/tajpslc
[electronic library], accessed 10.08.2021.
https://lex.uz/docs/4751561
12.
Decree of the President of the Republic of
Uzbekistan No. PF-5019 dated April 18, 2017
“On strengthening the role of prosecutor’s
offices in implementing socio-economic
reforms, modernizing the country, and
ensuring reliable protection of human rights
and freedoms” / Collection of Legislation of the
Republic of Uzbekistan, 2017, No. 17, Article
285.
13.
Mikhailova E.V. Legal status of the parties in
civil proceedings of the Russian Federation.
Abstract of diss... Cand. of Law.
–
Samara, 2004.
–
26 p.
