THE ESSENCE AND LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT'S CONSIDERATION OF APPEALS FROM CITIZENS AND LEGAL ENTITIES IN UZBEKISTAN

Аннотация

This study conducts a legal analysis of the right of citizens and legal entities to petition the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan for reviewing the constitutionality of laws. Individuals have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court if a law violates constitutional rights and freedoms, has been applied in courts for a specific case, and all legal remedies have been exhausted. The research examines the legal foundations of this mechanism, current legislation, and the practices of the Constitutional Court. The work analyzes the importance of ensuring constitutional justice in Uzbekistan's legal system, as well as the role of this institution in safeguarding citizens' rights. The study concludes with recommendations for maintaining legislative balance and strengthening adherence to the Constitution. Keywords: Constitutional Court, constitutional rights, constitutionality of law, mechanisms of legal protection, freedoms of citizens, Constitution of Uzbekistan, judicial proceedings, constitutional complaint. In recent years, reforms in the judicial and legal sphere have not only ensured the independence of the judiciary and the openness and transparency of courts but also strengthened guarantees for protecting the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and entrepreneurs. In accordance with the short-term strategy for elevating the judicial system to a qualitatively new level for 2023-2026, the main objectives have been defined as: forming a truly fair judicial system based on the idea of "For Human Dignity"; directing its activities towards effectively protecting the interests of the people and human dignity; strengthening public trust, including that of entrepreneurs, in the judicial system by ensuring the adoption of fair judicial decisions; and creating all opportunities for citizens and entrepreneurs to defend their rights and legitimate interests in courts1. This, in turn, paves the way for further strengthening the position of the 1 Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated January 16, 2023 No. UP-11 "On Additional Measures to Further Expand Access to Justice and Increase the Efficiency of Courts" https://lex.uz/mact/-6358976 32 NEW RENAISSANCE 2025 MAY INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL CONFERENCE VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 5 Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the system of national government bodies and increasing its role. Granting the Constitutional Court of Uzbekistan the authority to consider appeals from citizens and legal entities serves to ensure the conformity of state power with constitutional principles, and also plays a crucial role in protecting the constitutional rights of citizens. This function of the Constitutional Court is of significant importance in upholding the rule of law, safeguarding human rights, and fostering democratic principles in the country. A.Gafurov defines the essence of the constitutional complaint institution as follows: A constitutional complaint is an appeal by citizens and legal entities to the constitutional justice body, requesting to determine the constitutionality (conformity to the Constitution) of a specific normative legal act when the rights and freedoms established in the Constitution are violated by that normative legal act2. While agreeing with the above definition, we believe that the essence of the Constitutional Court's consideration of appeals from citizens and legal entities is the protection of their constitutional rights. If citizens and legal entities consider their rights and freedoms to have been violated, they may appeal to the Constitutional Court, which provides them with constitutional protection. The following classifications of appeals to the Constitutional Court exist: 1) Direct appeal - this is always carried out at the request of authorized state bodies if they have doubts about the compliance of the disputed legislative acts with the provisions of the Constitution. Its implementation is not directly related in any way to the emergence of a specific legal fact or a practical issue. There are the following types of direct appeals: a) Public complaint (Actio popularis), in Roman law, Actio popularis was understood as an individual's actions in the interests of society. Kelsen notes this type of constitutional appeal as the main guarantee of constitutional review in terms of every person's right to appeal to the Constitutional Court, and does not present actio popularis as an effective solution due to inevitable abuses3. In this type of constitutional control, which is considered the most comprehensive in terms of scope, every member of society, as a guardian of the Constitution, based on his civic 2 Gafurov A.B "Formation and development of constitutional judicial control in Uzbekistan: issues of theory and practice" Abstract Tashkent - 2022. Page 21 3 Achour R. Ben. “Le contrôle de la constitutionnalité des lois: quelle procédure?”, Actes du colloque international «L’effectivit