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Uzbekistan
The Constitution
From the beginning of his presidency, Karimov remained committed
in words to instituting democratic reforms. A new constitution
was adopted by the legislature in December 1992. Officially it
creates a separation of powers among a strong presidency, the
Oly Majlis, and a judiciary. In practice, however, these changes
have been largely cosmetic. Uzbekistan remains among the most
authoritarian states in Central Asia. Although the language of
the new constitution includes many democratic features, it can
be superseded by executive decrees and legislation, and often
constitutional law simply is ignored.
The president, who is directly elected to a five-year term that
can be repeated once, is the head of state and is granted supreme
executive power by the constitution. As commander in chief of
the armed forces, the president also may declare a state of emergency
or of war. The president is empowered to appoint the prime minister
and full cabinet of ministers and the judges of the three national
courts, subject to the approval of the Oly Majlis, and to appoint
all members of lower courts. The president also has the power
to dissolve the parliament, in effect negating the Oly Majlis's
veto power over presidential nominations in a power struggle situation.
Deputies to the unicameral Oly Majlis, the highest legislative
body, are elected to five-year terms. The body may be dismissed
by the president with the concurrence of the Constitutional Court;
because that court is subject to presidential appointment, the
dismissal clause weights the balance of power heavily toward the
executive branch. The Oly Majlis enacts legislation, which may
be initiated by the president, within the parliament, by the high
courts, by the procurator general (highest law enforcement official
in the country), or by the government of the Autonomous Province
of Karakalpakstan. Besides legislation, international treaties,
presidential decrees, and states of emergency also must be ratified
by the Oly Majlis.
The national judiciary includes the Supreme Court, the Constitutional
Court, and the High Economic Court. Lower court systems exist
at the regional, district, and town levels. Judges at all levels
are appointed by the president and approved by the Oly Majlis.
Nominally independent of the other branches of government, the
courts remain under complete control of the executive branch.
As in the system of the Soviet era, the procurator general and
his regional and local equivalents are both the state's chief
prosecuting officials and the chief investigators of criminal
cases, a configuration that limits the pretrial rights of defendants.
Data as of March 1996
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