Uzbekistan's Constitutional Court has ruled unconstitutional a provision in the Code of Administrative Responsibility that allowed border regime violators to be detained without a court order for up to three days, and up to 10 days with prosecutors' sanction if they lacked identity documents. The decision was adopted on September 22 and entered into force on the day of its official publication — September 25. It is final and not subject to appeal.

The Constitutional Court was approached by Feruza Eshmatova, the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman), regarding the constitutionality of part two of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility. According to the court's decision, during the review of complaints to the Ombudsman, it was found that in 2025–2026, six citizens complained of unlawful administrative detention for more than 48 hours without a court decision.

Part two of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility permitted individuals who violated the border regime or rules at checkpoints across the state border to be detained for up to three hours for drawing up a protocol. In cases where it was necessary to establish the identity of the offender or the circumstances of the offense, this period could be extended to three days with written notification to the prosecutor within 24 hours from the moment of detention. If the person lacked identity documents, detention for up to 10 days was allowed with the prosecutor's sanction.

The Ombudsman pointed out that these provisions contradicted part three of Article 27 of the Constitution, which stipulates that arrest, detention, and custody are permitted only by court decision, and without a court decision a person cannot be detained for more than 48 hours. The Constitutional Court agreed with the arguments in the appeal. The decision emphasizes that the 48-hour period established by the Constitution is the maximum period for restricting a person's freedom without judicial control. This guarantee applies to all forms of detention, including administrative detention.

The court also referred to the principle of "Habeas Corpus" enshrined in the updated Constitution. According to the court's assessment, the possibility of holding a person without a court decision for three or ten days goes beyond the maximum period established by the Constitution. "Detention of a person for more than 48 hours can only be carried out on the basis of a court decision," the Constitutional Court's decision states. The court noted that the disputed norm did not provide for going to court even in cases where it was necessary to extend the administrative detention period beyond 48 hours.

As a result, the Constitutional Court found the norm allowing detention of border regime violators without a court decision for up to 3 days, and up to 10 days with prosecutors' sanction in the absence of identity documents, to be contrary to part three of Article 27 of the Constitution. The provisions of Article 288 declared unconstitutional lost force from the moment the Constitutional Court's decision entered into force. This means that detention of border regime violators without a court decision for more than 48 hours is no longer permitted on the basis of these norms.

According to the law "On the Constitutional Court," the state body that adopted the normative-legal act must bring it into compliance with the Constitution within one month, i.e., amend the Code of Administrative Responsibility. At the same time, the Constitutional Court did not specify what the new edition of the article should be.

During the consideration of the case, the Ombudsman also presented a comparative analysis of foreign legislation. The decision notes that in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, the administrative detention period in such cases is up to three hours. In Tajikistan, detention can be extended only by court decision for up to three days, while in France the maximum period is four hours. In Germany, a detained person must be brought before a judge immediately, and without a court decision, they cannot be held beyond the end of the following day. The Constitutional Court also referred to the position of the UN Human Rights Committee, according to which 48 hours is considered the maximum acceptable period for holding a person before being brought under judicial control. The Constitutional Court's decision has been sent to relevant organizations for execution.

Source: www.gazeta.uz