Procedure for appointing judges to change in Uzbekistan

The procedure for appointing judges to a subsequent ten-year term has been abolished. This was announced in the presidential decree issued on 24 November, titled “On Measures to Enhance the Efficiency and Transparency of Judicial Community Bodies and Further Strengthen Guarantees of Judicial Independence.”

The decree identifies the following priority objectives for ensuring true independence of the judiciary and improving the efficiency of judicial community bodies:

•  Ensuring the principle of self-governance among judges and the implementation of advanced international standards related to judicial independence;
•  Improving the procedure for forming the judiciary, enhancing the role of judicial community bodies in this process, and clearly defining their responsibilities;
•  Ensuring transparency in the activities of judicial community bodies and establishing a clear and open procedure for selecting judicial candidates;
•  Achieving gender equality within the judiciary by ensuring that women comprise at least 30 percent of judges.

According to the decree, judges will no longer be appointed or elected for a subsequent ten-year term. Instead, candidates will first be appointed for a five-year term, followed by indefinite appointments. The selection of candidates for district, interdistrict, and city court chairpersons and their deputies will be conducted openly among judges based on established criteria. In addition, clear legal standards for evaluating judges’ professional activities—covering “integrity,” “professional competence,” and “adherence to ethical norms”—will be codified.

Candidates for permanent positions within the Supreme Judicial Council will be recommended by relevant judicial qualification boards. Generally, only judges with at least seven years of experience may be nominated for these positions.

The decree also establishes that opinions on candidates for judicial positions will be submitted to the Supreme Judicial Council by the following bodies:

•  Judicial qualification boards for military courts, courts in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city courts, administrative courts of the same jurisdictions, and interdistrict, district, and city courts;
•  Supreme Judicial Qualification Board for Supreme Court judges, courts in Karakalpakstan, regional and Tashkent city courts, administrative courts, and the Military Court of Uzbekistan, including chairpersons and deputy chairpersons.

Furthermore, to strengthen the independence of judicial community bodies, the joint meetings of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Judicial Qualification Board will be abolished.

The decree grants the Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council the authority to submit proposals to review decisions of qualification boards if disciplinary cases against judges are deemed unjustified or if disciplinary sanctions are found inconsistent with the judges’ actions. The Chairman will also independently approve the Council’s structure and staffing within the established limits.

By 15 December 2025, the Supreme Judicial Council’s official website will begin publishing open and regularly updated information on vacant leadership and higher judicial positions, the procedures for participating in selection processes, and all stages of selecting and appointing candidates to judicial positions, including leadership and higher judicial offices.