European Union’s expertise presented during the forum ‘’Tashkent Law Spring’’
On 22-23 April, 2021, Tashkent hosted the II International Legal Forum "Tashkent Law Spring" (https://tashkentlawspring.uz/).
The forum is organized by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the second time with the participation of partner organizations and was held this year in the form of a video conference. The main theme of the forum is "Law 4.0" (Law during the Fourth Industrial Revolution).
The forum focused on legal policy of the state, transparency of public authorities, LegalTech and LawTech (legal technology), Common (English) law system, mediation and arbitration in the Cornovirus period, intellectual property protection, policy implementation, ensuring the independence, fairness and impartiality of the courts, as well as discussion sessions on other topical issues. A number of high ranking officials from different countries, international organisations and high level national and international experts attended the forum.
Prominent experts from the European Union could share their knowledge and foreign experience on many Forum’s directions. Mr Gianni Buquicchio, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, welcomed forum participants. He took part within the joint Council of Europe – European Union project for Central Asia “Promoting Efficient Functioning of State Institutions and Public Administration”. The project is part of the broader “Central Asia Rule of Law Programme” financed by the Council of Europe and the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe.
On the first day of the forum, Veronica Gaffey, Chair of European Commission’s Regulatory Scrutiny Board delivered a speech during the Session ‘’Digital opportunities for ensuring the openness of public authorities’’. Her presentation described the role of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board in supporting good quality law making at the EU level. During the same session, both Professor Lauri Mälksoo (Tartu University) and Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law and Human Rights Merilin Kivorig (University of Tartu Faculty of Law) raised awareness on importance of protecting human rights in digitalised world.
Additionally, during the roundtable ’’Further actions taken by Uzbekistan for the development of civil society’’, Ronnie Dirk Heine, Regional Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, delivered presentation ‘’Development of civil society - the experience of Germany’’. Meanwhile, Katharina Bervar, Director of the Legal Information Center for NGOs (Slovenia), presented how good practices of Slovenian and the EU NGOs cooperating with the government and parliaments. Experience of the EU was also presented by President of the Supreme Court of Slovenia Damijan Florjančič during the session “Ensuring the independence, fairness and impartiality of the court in the digital age”.
On April 23, during the Round Table ‘’Best practice in public services’’, François Begeot, Head of the Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan, talked about the “Sustainable development through public service delivery: The way forward for Uzbekistan”. President of the Lithuanian Notaries’ Chamber Marius Strackaitis participated at the Round Table “Electronic notary - a look into the future” with his presentation on remote certification of notarial actions: how to maintain the reliability of civil law relations.
During the Round Table “Prospects for the development of the legal profession in the context of reforms of the judicial and legal system”, Ranko Pelicaric,Attorney from Croatia and Former President of CCBE, EU, discussed the importance of the independence of bar associations in strengthening the rule of law and CCBE's work in this area. Meanwhile, President of the European Association of Lawyers Maria Ślązak informed on relevance of international cooperation for development of the legal profession.
To learn more about other speakers who shared the European best practices as well as speakers from other regions who took part at the forum, please visit the forum’s official website: https://tashkentlawspring.uz/
For information:
The International Law Forum "Tashkent Law Spring" was first organized in April 2019. It was attended by more than 1,200 lawyers and experts in other fields, 250 of whom are foreign participants from more than 40 countries. A total of 134 people, including 100 foreign experts, made a speech at the forum sessions.
