Uzbekistan’s Legislative Chamber has approved at first reading a bill setting out a new procedure for checking whether laws applied by courts comply with the Constitution.
If questions arise over the constitutionality of a law in a specific case, a court would be able to initiate a referral through the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Court. The proceedings would be suspended while the issue is reviewed.
Ordinary courts would not gain the power to strike down laws themselves. The Constitutional Court would continue to decide whether a legal act complies with the Constitution.
The bill would also create a separate ground for reconsidering a court ruling if the law applied in the case is subsequently found unconstitutional. It would also clarify how suspended proceedings are resumed.
Article 133 of the Constitution already allows the Supreme Court to refer such questions to the Constitutional Court at the initiative of lower courts. The bill is intended to define what happens procedurally to the specific case during and after that review.
The proposed procedure is not yet in force: the bill has passed only its first reading and must complete further parliamentary stages.
