Our people can endure any hardship, but will not tolerate injustice

Islam Karimov

The judiciary is one of the three branches of power that protects the rights of man and citizen. The activity of the court is aimed at ensuring the rule of law and social justice.

One of the most important areas for the implementation of the Development Strategy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021 is the judicial and legal reform, which further strengthens the rule of law and guarantees reliable protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens. The ongoing judicial and legal reforms are based on such constitutional principles as the rule of law, priority of human rights and freedoms, equality of citizens before the law, humanism and justice. The introduction of a new institution — the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, has become the most important significant innovation in the judicial system of our country. The Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan is a body of the judiciary that assists in ensuring compliance with the constitutional principle of the independence of the judiciary^[1].

The Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan guarantees the right to judicial protection for everyone who applies for it. In accordance with Article 3 of the Economic Procedural Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan: «Any interested person has the right to apply to the economic court for the protection of their violated or disputed rights or legally protected interests in the manner established by the EPC.» One of the necessary conditions for the acceptance of these appeals to the court is the payment of the state fee. It should be noted that the procedure for collecting the state duty on economic cases and its size are established by the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 6, 2020 No. ZRU-600 “On the State Duty”.

It should be emphasized that the activity of the economic court in considering and resolving disputes arising in the economic sphere and other cases falling within its competence is carried out in the form established by law^[2].

Therefore, the application to the court is carried out in the form:

• statement of claim — on disputes arising from civil legal relations;
• applications — for writ proceedings, certain categories of cases and in other cases provided for by this Code;
• complaints (protests) — when applying to the courts of appeal, cassation and supervisory instances, as well as in other cases provided for by the Economic Procedure Code and other laws.

The appeal and the documents attached to it can be sent to the court in the form of an electronic document^[3].

A claim in the economic process is a controversial legal claim of one person to another, arising from a substantive legal relationship, based on legal facts and presented to the economic court for consideration and resolution in a strictly defined procedural order^[4]. Each lawsuit has components that exhaust its content. The content of the claim is determined by the plaintiff, demanding from the court a certain method of judicial protection of his right. It is important to note that the content of the claim consists of two of its elements: 1) the grounds for the claim; 2) The subject matter of the claim.

So, the basis of the claim are the actual circumstances, with the presence or absence of which the substantive legislation connects the emergence, change or termination of legal relations between the interested parties. And the subject of the claim is a specific substantive claim of the plaintiff to the defendant, arising from the disputed legal relationship.

The right to claim is the possibility of obtaining the protection of a subjective substantive right by an interested person in a certain procedural order. It should be noted that the right to sue, as well as a lawsuit, has two sides.

The first is the right to sue. It means the right to apply to the court for judicial protection, that is, the procedural right.

The second side is the right to satisfaction of the claim. It is the right to enforce a substantive claim against the defendant through an economic court, that is, a material right.

When a dispute arises, the party intending to sue, questions arise regarding which court to apply for consideration of the case, the process, terms, state fees, as well as alternative mechanisms for resolving the dispute. In this article, we will address the above questions.

As we know, in order to determine exactly where to apply, it is necessary to determine the jurisdiction^[5].

Interdistrict, district (city) economic courts consider all cases, with the exception of cases within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city courts^[6].

The Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city courts consider cases in which one of the parties is a foreign person — a non-resident of the Republic of Uzbekistan. As well as cases on the recognition and enforcement of decisions of foreign courts and arbitrations.

Disputes arising from economic agreements between government bodies, local government bodies are considered by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Therefore, we will find out the procedure for filing a claim.

The person concerned, the prosecutor, state bodies file a claim. It is important to note that the statement of claim is submitted in the form and content established by the Economic Procedure Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Documents confirming the following shall be attached to the statement of claim:

• payment of state duty and postage in the prescribed manner and amount;
• Sending to the defendant and third parties a copy of the statement of claim and documents attached to it;
• observance of the pre-trial (claim) procedure for resolving a dispute with the defendant, when it is provided for by law for this category of disputes or by an agreement;
• circumstances on which claims are based;
• state registration of the plaintiff as a legal entity or individual entrepreneur;
• authority to sign the statement of claim, if it is signed by a representative.

It should be emphasized that after the documents are submitted, the judge alone resolves the issue of accepting it for proceedings, refusing to accept or return it and notifies the parties to the dispute about this.

«Proceedings in the Court of First Instance»

After receipt of the statement of claim, within 5 days, a decision is made to accept or refuse to accept the statement of claim. The trial must be completed within a period not exceeding one month from the date of issuance of the ruling on the preparation of the case for trial. It is important to note that in exceptional cases the term of the trial may be extended by the chairman of the court by no more than one month.

The first court session on the case must be held no later than twenty days from the date of issuance of the ruling on the preparation of the case for trial. The trial may be postponed for the period necessary to eliminate the circumstances that served as the basis for the postponement, within the period of the trial provided for by the EPC of the Republic of Uzbekistan, but not more than ten days. The number of adjournments of court proceedings may not exceed three times.

After the completion of the trial, the judgment is drawn up and signed within five days. In turn, the decision comes into force after a month from the date of its adoption, unless it is appealed (protested) on appeal. If an appeal (protest) is filed, the decision, if it is not canceled, enters into force from the day the decision of the court of appeal is adopted.

«Proceedings in the Court of Appeal»

• fn appeal (protest) may be filed within one month from the date of adoption by the court of first instance of the appealed (protested) decision. Attached to the appeal are:
• documents confirming the payment of state duty and postage;
• a document confirming the direction or delivery to other persons participating in the case, copies of the appeal and the documents attached to it, which they do not have;
• in case of signing the appeal by a representative — a document confirming the authority to sign it.

It should be noted that the issue of acceptance, refusal to accept an appeal (protest) for proceedings or return is resolved by the judge alone no later than five days from the date of its receipt together with the case to the court and a ruling is adopted, a copy of which is sent no later than the next day from the date of its issuance persons involved in the case^[7].

The first court session on the appeal (protest) must be held no later than twenty days from the date of the ruling on the acceptance of the appeal (protest) for proceedings^[8]. The court of appeal considers the appeal (protest) against the decision of the court of first instance within a period not exceeding one month from the date of acceptance of the appeal (protest) for proceedings. After the completion of the trial, the appellate instance draws up a ruling within five days. In turn, the definition comes into force after one month from the date of its adoption.

«Proceedings in the court of cassation»

• a cassation complaint (protest) may be filed within one year from the date of adoption of the decision of the court of appeal.
• attached to the appeal are:
• documents confirming the payment of state duty and postage;
• a document confirming the direction or delivery to other persons participating in the case of a copy of the cassation complaint and the documents attached to it, which they do not have;
• in case of signing a cassation appeal by a representative — a document confirming the authority to sign it.

The first court session on a cassation complaint (protest) must be held no later than twenty days from the date of the issuance of a ruling on the appointment of a cassation complaint (protest) for consideration in court proceedings.

A cassation complaint (protest) is considered within a period not exceeding one month from the date of appointment of a cassation complaint (protest) for consideration in court proceedings. In turn, based on the results of consideration of the cassation complaint (protest), the court of cassation adopts a decision, which is signed by the judges who have considered the case.

Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude the following:

The court in the Republic of Uzbekistan is called upon to exercise judicial protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens proclaimed by the Constitution and other laws of the Republic of Uzbekistan, international acts on human rights, the rights and legally protected interests of enterprises, institutions and organizations. It should be emphasized that the activity of the court is aimed at ensuring the rule of law, social justice, civil peace and harmony.

It is important to note that Uzbekistan pays special attention to reforming the judicial and legal system of the country, which contributes to the growth of the quality of justice, its transparency, accessibility, openness and efficiency.

[1] Ibratova F.B. Economic procedural law. Textbook. -Tashkent: TDUI. 2011. — 705 p.

[2] Otakhonov F.Kh. Economic procedural law. Tutorial. — T : TGUI, 2003.

[3]Dustov U. Economic (business) law: Textbook / ed. O. Okyulova. — T .: TGUI, 2010.

[4] Burkhankhodzhaeva H.V., Lopaeva N.V. Problems of economic procedural law. Tutorial. – T.: TGUI Publishing House, 2007.

[5] Abdusalamov M. Economic courts in the Republic of Uzbekistan. — T .: Shark, 1998.

[6] Otakhonov F.Kh. The participation of a lawyer in the economic process (training manual). — T .: TGUI, 2005.

[7] Lopaeva N.V. Legal regulation of bankruptcy of business entities. Tutorial. – T.: TGUI Publishing House, 2007.

[8] Commentary on the Economic Procedural Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan. /Aut. Team: Abdusalomov M.E., Azimov M.K., Burkhankhodzhaeva H.V. etc. — T .: Publishing house «World of Economics and Law», 2001.