Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed A law "On freedom of conscience and religious organizations" in new edition.

The law is aimed at strengthening the guarantees of freedom of conscience, strengthening legal mechanisms to ensure the right of every person to profess any religion or not to profess any religion, as well as improving state policy on religious affairs.

The relevance of this Law at the present time lies in the fact that it serves to eliminate the problems that citizens previously encountered in practicing religion, to ensure the receipt of religious education and the free functioning of religious organizations, to prevent the emergence of interreligious and interethnic conflicts.

This Law contains universally recognized rights and freedoms in the religious sphere, guaranteed by international human rights standards, it takes into account the historical conditions for the formation of interreligious relations in Uzbekistan. The law will allow maintaining relations of friendship and tolerance between nations and peoples living in our country, and ensuring respect for their various religious beliefs and feelings.

On the basis of the Law, the procedure for registration and termination of activities of religious organizations is simplified, in this regard, important facilitating norms are introduced.

In particular, the number of citizens who initiate the creation of local religious organizations, including mosques and places of worship of other confessions, is halved, with the number of at least 50 people being established. In addition, the requirement for the presence of 100 initiators for the creation of a central governing body of a religious organization and religious educational institutions is canceled.

The provision of services related to the state registration of a religious organization is being introduced completely in electronic form without the human factor.

The number of documents submitted to the justice authorities for registration is significantly reduced, and the period for their consideration is reduced by 3 times, that is, from 3 months to 1 month.

At the same time, additional guarantees are provided for, such as the suspension and termination of the activities of a religious organization exclusively through the courts, the ineligibility of registering and other state bodies for this, the exemption of a religious organization from paying state fees when applying to the court for actions of officials violating the legitimate interests of a religious organization. These mechanisms are being introduced for the first time in the history of our country.

The professional status of religious education is officially recognized, and the right of citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan to a secular education is guaranteed, regardless of their attitude to religion.

The provision of religious education to the population by any person "in their own way" will lead to the spread of non-traditional beliefs, the provision of unilateral explanations on purely religious issues by non-specialists.

This can cause disagreements in society on religious issues, the population falling under the influence of alien ideas and views. To this end, the provision of religious education outside of a religious educational institution is recognized as illegal activity.

The Law stipulates that the state is the guarantor of the realization of the rights of citizens and ensuring peace and harmony in society, creating conditions for a dignified life for citizens.