The Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis on July 14 adopted a law establishing criminal liability for moving citizens into multi-story residential buildings that have not been put into operation. The document was passed in three readings and sent to the Senate.

Deputy Prosecutor General Salom Samadov, who presented the bill, said working groups had studied the design and expertise of buildings and structures across the country. The inspection covered a seven-year period.

“During the study of multi-story buildings, 383 apartment buildings were found to have been built illegally, without complying with urban planning documentation, connecting to utility networks, or being registered. More than 20,000 apartments were sold to citizens in these buildings,” Samadov reported.

In addition, 136 multi-story buildings were identified that had not been put into operation due to various violations, but where more than 8,000 people were already living.

Currently, administrative liability is imposed on officials for such actions. A repeated offense after an administrative penalty may lead to criminal liability — up to one year of correctional labor, or up to two years of restriction or deprivation of liberty.

According to Samadov, fines totaling 619 million soums were imposed for the identified violations, and 2,515 individuals were held administratively liable. “However, the existing liability did not produce the expected result,” he said.

In this regard, it is proposed to separately enshrine in the Urban Planning Code the obligation of the customer or contractor not to move citizens into a multi-story building that has not been accepted for operation in the prescribed manner. The Criminal Code is being supplemented with a norm providing for direct criminal liability for this offense.

“It is proposed to supplement Article 229-3 of the Criminal Code with a new seventh part and establish direct criminal liability. The penalties include correctional labor for up to three years, restriction of liberty for two to three years, or imprisonment for two to three years,” the deputy prosecutor general stated.

The bill was prepared after studying the legislation of the US, France, China, Russia, CIS countries, and other states. Speaker of the Legislative Chamber Nuriddin Ismoilov noted that the law relates to issues of construction quality and safety.

Late last year, Minister of Construction and Housing and Communal Services Sherzod Hidoyatov reported that since 2018-2019, illegal housing for 38,000 apartments had been identified in Uzbekistan. On July 13, the Senate approved a law to strengthen control in the construction sector.

Source: www.gazeta.uz