Draft:Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan

The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan (or Business Ombudsman) is the Commissioner for the Protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of entrepreneurs is an official appointed by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, who ensures the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities, as well as the observance of these rights and legitimate interests by state bodies, including law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

Institution
The official name is the Commissioner of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities. It is also used as a Business Ombudsman among the general public.

A citizen of the Republic of Uzbekistan who has reached the age of thirty on the day of appointment, has a higher education, knows the state language, has experience in protecting the rights and legitimate interests of business entities or has experience in the field of entrepreneurial activity and has lived in the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan for at least five years prior to appointment to the position.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 5125 dated July 28, 2017, Dilmurod Kasimov was appointed.. to the post of Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights and Legitimate Interests of Business Entities under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs exercises his powers independently and independently of state bodies and their officials, and also reports on his activities to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

History
The idea of creating an institution of the Commissioner for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities was first mentioned in the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 4848 dated October 5, 2016.

According to the Decree of the President of the Republic dated 07.02.2017 № 4947 "On the Strategy of Actions for the further development of the Republic of Uzbekistan", the State Program for the implementation of the Strategy of Actions in five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021 provides for the creation of an Authorized (Business Ombudsman) to protect the rights and legitimate interests of its business entities under the President of the Republic Uzbekistan.

According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 5037 dated May 5, 2017, the Institute of the Commissioner under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the Protection of the Rights and legitimate interests of business entities was established.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 5125 dated July 28, 2017, D. Kasimov was appointed to the post of Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights and Legitimate Interests of Business Entities under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan № ZRU-440 dated August 29, 2017 "On the Commissioner under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the Protection of the Rights and legitimate interests of business entities" was adopted. Thus, it ensured that its activities fully comply with the status of human rights institutions enshrined in the Paris Principles.

During the establishment of the institute, 8 people worked in the office of the Business Ombudsman according to its structure.

In the future, the composition of his staff will be expanded twice – in 2019 and 2022.

According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 5690 dated March 15, 2019 on the fundamental improvement of the business protection system, the structure of the office of the Business Ombudsman was expanded, and the number of its employees increased to 86 people.

In order to work closely with business entities on the ground in the regions of the republic, employees of his office appeared.

In 2022, the Business Ombudsman of the Republic of Uzbekistan and his staff, in order to ensure timely protection of the rights of entrepreneurs, were given the authority to consider cases of administrative offenses and take administrative penalties in the form of fines in accordance with 9 articles of the Code of Administrative Responsibility.

These are:

• Violation of the legislation on appeals from individuals and legal entities regarding violations of the rights of business entities (Article 43);

• Illegal seizure of a land plot – in terms of violation of the rights of business entities (Article 200-2);

• Violation of the right to private property (article 241-1);

• Violation of the procedure for conducting inspections and audits of financial and economic activities of business entities (Article 241-2);

• Illegal suspension of the activities of business entities and (or) transactions on their bank accounts (Article 241-3);

• Compulsory involvement of business entities in charity and other activities (Article 241-4);

• Unlawful refusal, non-application or obstruction of the application of benefits and preferences (article 241-6);

• Illegal demand for information on the availability of funds in the accounts of business entities (article 241-8);

• Demanding documents from business entities in violation of the law (Article 241-10).

Unified State control
The Unified State Control Information System is an electronic information system that allows the collection, analysis and processing of a large amount of data related to the implementation of state control in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as providing registration of initiatives (by agreement or notification) of regulatory authorities on conducting inspections in the activities of business entities, conducted inspections and their results.

On April 1, 2022, the Unified State Control information system was launched, which allows for the collection, analysis and processing of a large amount of data related to state control in the field of entrepreneurship, and also has the following capabilities. Since November 1, 2022, all inspections carried out in the activities of business entities have been registered in the Unified State Control information system. Conducting inspections in the activities of business entities that are not registered in this system is illegal.

Information on the results of inspections and preventive measures in the activities of business entities will be entered into the Unified State Control information system within three days from the date of completion of the inspection or preventive measures.

From January 1, 2023, supervisory authorities are prohibited from conducting inspections of business entities for functions not included in the register of state control functions in the Unified State Control information system.

Why should entrepreneurs use the Unified State Control information system? The information system contains detailed information about the inspections carried out in the activities of the business entity. To get information about the checks, follow the govcontrol link.uz and register in the system. After registration, the types of state control carried out are displayed in the personal account of the business entity, sorted by type of activity of the business entity. The "My Information" section displays all information about the business entity's activities. The "Registered checks" section displays all checks registered in the system by regulatory authorities.

Tasks of the Commissioner
The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan performs the following tasks:

• participation in the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of business development, protection of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities;

• monitoring the observance of the rights and legitimate interests of business entities by state bodies;

• providing legal support to business entities in carrying out inspections of their activities;

• study of the practical implementation of the norms and requirements of legislation on guarantees of freedom of entrepreneurial activity;

• assessment of the effectiveness of the impact of the adopted normative legal acts on the implementation of entrepreneurial activities;

• preparation of proposals for improving legislation aimed at strengthening the legal guarantees of business entities and stimulating their development.

The main values in the activities of the Commissioner
Legality – strict compliance with the requirements of legislative acts in protecting the rights and legitimate interests of business entities;

Fairness is a fair approach to any issue that arises in the course of activity;

Honesty – to avoid corruption situations in the conduct of activities, to ensure impartiality in solving all issues;

Professionalism is the systematic, professional and effective organization of professional activities for the consideration of applications, analysis and study;

Initiative – promotion of new ideas, initiatives and scientific, innovative proposals in the interests of entrepreneurs, as well as in order to improve the business environment;

Responsibility is a serious approach to each task based on job responsibilities, achieving efficiency;

Teamwork – to work on the same goal with the staff of the Commissioner's Office when organizing work, to prevent grouping;

Mutual respect – ensuring mutual agreement among the staff of the Commissioner's Office in organizing activities, a sense of personal responsibility for the reputation and goals of the team.

Procedure for consideration of complaints
1. The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs considers complaints from business entities against decisions of state bodies and other organizations, actions (inaction) of their officials that violate their rights and legitimate interests.

2. Complaints related to the resolution of economic disputes arising between business entities, disputes arising from family, labor and other legal relations not related to entrepreneurial activity are not included in the scope of consideration of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs.

3. The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs does not consider issues within the competence of courts, bodies carrying out operational investigative activities, bodies of investigation, inquiry and execution of punishments.

4. When considering complaints, the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs may, within the limits of his powers: resolve the issue on the merits; indicate the means and forms that the applicant can use to protect his rights and legitimate interests; send a complaint to an organization or an official authorized to resolve the complaint on its merits; acquaint the applicant with documents, decisions and other materials relating to his rights and legitimate interests; may refuse to consider the complaint, indicating the reason.

5. The Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs may take other measures in accordance with the legislation.

6. A person who has filed a complaint with the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, as well as persons to whom the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs entrusts the collection of information and its analysis or the provision of expert assessment information, cannot be held accountable for such actions or restricted in any other way.

7. Complaints addressed to the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs by representatives of business entities – suspects, accused and convicted in cases of crimes in the field of entrepreneurial activity and those in places of detention, institutions for the execution of punishment, as well as complaints of persons subjected to administrative arrest and being in a special receiver, are not subject to review by the administration of their places the contents and no later than twenty-four hours are sent to the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs. The response of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs is not subject to review and is immediately delivered to the applicant.

8. Heads and officials of state bodies and other organizations are obliged to send a written response to the appeal of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, as well as provide him with the requested information, documents and materials within a period not exceeding ten days from the date of receipt of the relevant appeal.

Entrepreneur's Virtual office
One of the innovations introduced over the past period in terms of reforming the system of dealing with business appeals is that by Presidential Decree dated July 27, 2022, the unified interactive portal "business.gov.uz " reorganized into the information portal "Virtual Office of the entrepreneur" and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Business Ombudsman

This portal, dealing with the problems of business entities through digital technologies, allows you to receive requests from entrepreneurs around the clock, solve and control these processes. And also, through the portal, through thematic online discussions and questionnaires between government agencies and organizations, as well as business entities, it is possible to form proposals to identify systemic problems that hinder entrepreneurial activity and eliminate them, receive collective appeals, connect to information systems that allow obtaining licenses and documents of a permissive nature, loans, subsidies, compensations and guarantees, perform tax and customs administration.

Appeals received on the portal are automatically or by the Business Ombudsman sent to the relevant competent authorities for consideration and resolution. The authorized bodies consider applications received through the portal in accordance with the procedure and deadlines established by law, and enter information about the results on the portal.

The Business Ombudsman establishes digital control over the procedure and deadline for reviewing appeals received on the portal, and applies appropriate legal measures (submission, administrative protocol, warning, conclusion) in cases of violations of the law..

The main reforms in the system of state control over the activities of entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan
In the Republic of Uzbekistan, from the first years of independence until the recent past, there were a number of types of state control over the activities of entrepreneurs, within the framework of which planned, unscheduled, alternative, control checks were carried out.

In the republic, state control over the activities of business entities was carried out by the Republican Council coordinating the activities of supervisory bodies with central coordination (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated August 8, 1996 № 1503). .

Inspections in the activities of entrepreneurs, regardless of the availability of information on violations of legislation in the activities of entrepreneurs, were carried out on the basis of a plan approved by the Republican Council for Coordinating the Activities of Regulatory Authorities, a number of regulatory authorities (fire protection, sanitation, veterinary medicine, energy control, etc.) in the order of a "comprehensive audit".

In 29 cases provided for by law (Regulations of 05/16/2006 reg. No. 1573 and 03.09.2007 reg. №. 1712), inspections in the activities of entrepreneurs were carried out unscheduled without the control of a special coordinating body.

However, since 2015, unprecedented revolutionary reforms have been implemented in order to liberalize business activities, strengthen legal protection for entrepreneurs and prevent unjustified state interference in their activities.

In particular, the procedure for increasing the responsibility of state officials, law enforcement and control bodies to the level of administrative and criminal liability for illegal interference and obstruction of entrepreneurial activity, violation of the rights of private owners has been established (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 05.15.2015 № 4725).

All types of unscheduled inspections of business entities have been canceled, including all types of alternative inspections in criminal cases, it has been determined that unscheduled inspections will be carried out only in a short time on the basis of appeals from individuals and legal entities about violations of legislative acts, only in accordance with the decision of the Republican Council (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No.UP-4848 of 05.10.2016)

In 2018, for the first time in the history of the republic, a two-year moratorium on checking the financial and economic activities of business entities was announced (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 5308 dated January 22, 2018).

Scheduled inspections unrelated to the financial and economic activities of business entities have been canceled, inspections in the order of control conducted in the activities of business entities (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan № 5490 dated 07/27/2018), almost all types of inspections introduced in the first 10 years of independence (scheduled inspection, alternative inspection, control inspection) have been canceled and completely new verification mechanisms have been introduced.

It is determined that the initiative to verify the activities of business entities is carried out based on the results of the "risk analysis" system according to the level of risk of violations by the relevant business entities, all inspections are registered in a single electronic registration system for inspections, and it is also determined that all relations between regulatory authorities and the competent authority coordinating inspections will be carried out through a single electronic system.

Since April 1, 2019, the Business Ombudsman has been entrusted with the task of coordinating inspections conducted in the activities of business entities and monitoring the legality of inspections conducted by regulatory authorities. (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 03.15.2019 № 5690).

Accordingly, the Business Ombudsman was given a number of powers to monitor compliance with the requirements of legislation in the field of inspections in the activities of business entities.

Article 39 of the Law "On Guarantees of Freedom of Entrepreneurial Activity" provides that all inspections of the activities of business entities conducted by regulatory authorities must be registered in the Unified System of Electronic Registration of inspections, and inspections of the activities of business entities conducted without registration in the Unified System of Electronic Registration of inspections are illegal.

In accordance with the current legislation (№ 5490, 6314, 374), inspections of the activities of business entities are carried out in the order of "Coordination" and "Notification" with the authorized body.

In the order of approval - applications received for verification are considered on average within 1 working day (in legislation up to 3 working days) and a decision is made on approval or refusal.

On a notification basis - as soon as the supervisory authority enters into the system the document that is the basis of the audit, the audit is registered and a unique number is assigned to it.

The Unified State Control Information System is an electronic information system that allows you to collect, analyze and process a large amount of data related to state control in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as initiatives (by agreement or notification) of regulatory authorities to conduct inspections in the field of entrepreneurship.

This information system was launched on April 1, 2022.

Since April 1, 2019, the Business Ombudsman has been entrusted with the task of coordinating inspections conducted in the activities of business entities and monitoring the legality of inspections conducted by regulatory authorities. (Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated 03/15/2019 № 5690).

Accordingly, the Business Ombudsman was given a number of powers to monitor compliance with the requirements of legislation in the field of inspections in the activities of business entities.

Article 39 of the Law "On Guarantees of Freedom of Entrepreneurial Activity" provides that all inspections of the activities of business entities conducted by regulatory authorities must be registered in the Unified System of Electronic Registration of inspections, and inspections of the activities of business entities conducted without registration in the Unified System of Electronic Registration of inspections are illegal.

In accordance with the current legislation (№ 5490, 6314, 374), inspections of the activities of business entities are carried out in the order of "Coordination" and "Notification" with the authorized body.

In the order of approval - applications received for verification are considered on average within 1 working day (in legislation up to 3 working days) and a decision is made on approval or refusal.

On a notification basis - as soon as the supervisory authority enters into the system the document that is the basis of the audit, the audit is registered and a unique number is assigned to it.

The Unified State Control Information System is an electronic information system that allows you to collect, analyze and process a large amount of data related to state control in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as initiatives (by agreement or notification) of regulatory authorities to conduct inspections in the field of entrepreneurship.

Information on the results of inspections and preventive measures in the activities of business entities will be entered into the Unified State Control information system within three days from the date of completion of the inspection or preventive measures.

Entrepreneur's Virtual office
One of the innovations introduced over the past period in terms of reforming the system of dealing with business appeals is that by Presidential Decree dated July 27, 2022, the unified interactive portal "business.gov.uz " reorganized into the information portal "Virtual Office of the entrepreneur" and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Business Ombudsman.

This portal, dealing with the problems of business entities through digital technologies, allows you to receive requests from entrepreneurs around the clock, solve and control these processes. And also, through the portal, through thematic online discussions and questionnaires between government agencies and organizations, as well as business entities, it is possible to form proposals to identify systemic problems that hinder entrepreneurial activity and eliminate them, receive collective appeals, connect to information systems that allow obtaining licenses and documents of a permissive nature, loans, subsidies, compensations and guarantees, perform tax and customs administration.

Appeals received on the portal are automatically or by the Business Ombudsman sent to the relevant competent authorities for consideration and resolution. The authorized bodies consider applications received through the portal in accordance with the procedure and deadlines established by law, and enter information about the results on the portal.

The Business Ombudsman establishes digital control over the procedure and deadline for reviewing appeals received on the portal, and applies appropriate legal measures (submission, administrative protocol, warning, conclusion) in cases of violations of the law..

The main reforms in the system of state control over the activities of entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan

In the Republic of Uzbekistan, from the first years of independence until the recent past, there were a number of types of state control over the activities of entrepreneurs, within the framework of which planned, unscheduled, alternative, control checks were carried out.