The conference commemorated the 10-year anniversary of the legal clinical education in Uzbekistan, as well as two other important days – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) and the International Human Rights Day (December 10).

The event was opened by the presentation of the new UNDP-sponsored publication, “Women’s Rights in Questions and Answers” commemorating the 30-year anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) that Uzbekistan joined in 1995. The book published in three languages (Uzbek, Russian and Karakalpak) consists of FAQs on the provisions of CEDAW concerning rights of women for education, labour, citizenship, political participation etc.

In her opening speech Ms. Sitara Syed, Assistant Resident Representative of UNDP, stressed: “By publication of this book, UNDP, in cooperation with the Women’s Committee of Uzbekistan and National Human Rights Center, tried to demonstrate that the rights of women shall be respected not only by the state, but by the society, by each family.”

The main objective of the conference was to overview the 10-year experience of Uzbekistan in providing free legal aid through legal clinics, attract attention of the government officials and civil society to the issues of legal and administrative framework for provision of free legal aid to the poor, and facilitate experience exchange among the legal clinics.

Currently, with the assistance of the UNDP, 5 legal clinics in Uzbekistan provide pro bono legal aid to the low-income population who need legal advice. Most of the clinics are established under the legal departments of the universities and provide an opportunity for the law students to apply their knowledge under the guidance of their professors and experienced lawyers. The first legal clinics were opened at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy and Tashkent State Law Institute in 2000 followed by opening of the similar clinics in Namangan and Karakalpakstan State Universities and under the Foundation of Disabled Ex-combatants. Only one of them, the “Lawyer’s Training School”, has provided free legal advice and assistance to about 1000 citizens since its opening in March 2007.

The conference was attended by the representatives of the Parliament, Supreme Court, General Prosecutor’s Office, Ministry of Justice and other ministries and institutions, legal clinics, civil society organizations and international agencies. They discussed the national and international experience of the development of legal clinics as an instrument of legal aid (including the outcomes of the recent study tour to the Czech Republic), the role of the legal clinics in training future legal professionals and the place of the clinics in the ongoing reform of legal system in Uzbekistan. The clinics informed about main fields of their activities, their contribution to legal awareness rasing among general public and their partnership with civil society organizations.

The participants drafted recommendations on strategic development of free legal aid system and legal clinics in Uzbekistan, i.a. institutionalization of the legal clinical education as a part of legal education, its introduction into the legal curricula, as well as adopting the Law on Legal Aid, that will strengthen the role of the clinics in providing free legal aid.

This conference was held in the framework of the UNDP Project “Development of Capacities of National Human Rights Institutions.” The main objective of the Project is to strengthen national capacities for promotion and protection of human rights and access to justice in Uzbekistan. The Project will achieve its outputs through development of the capacities of the national human rights institutions to effectively fulfill their mandates, to support free legal aid and contribute to human rights awareness raising.