Those who turn a blind eye to crime will face fines of up to 6.6 million so‘ms

In Uzbekistan, administrative liability and substantial fines are being introduced for failing to report committed or impending offenses to relevant authorities, despite a legal obligation to do so. According to a new bill developed by the General Prosecutor's Office, employees and officials who conceal cases of early marriage, pregnancy of girls under the age of 16, and harassment against women will face severe penalties. This initiative is aimed at putting an end to the malpractice of covering up crimes and hushing up incidents in society.

Amount of new fines: Who pays how much?

The bill establishes clear, differentiated punitive measures for irresponsibility:

• For regular employees: Employees who have the authority and obligation to report a violation but display negligence regarding it — a fine of up to 2.2 million so‘ms;

• For officials: Responsible managers and officials who show negligence in the performance of their official duties — a fine of up to 4.4 million so‘ms;

• For repeated offenses within a year: If an official commits this offense repeatedly within a year, the fine amount will be increased to up to 6.6 million so‘ms.

Which situations must be reported?

The document is primarily aimed at ensuring the safety of socially vulnerable groups and minors:

• Early marriages and forced unions: Cases of marrying off girls at an early age or conducting religious marriage ceremonies;

• Pregnancies of girls under 16: It is prohibited for medical and educational institution staff to remain silent if underage girls are found to be pregnant;

• Notifying relevant bodies: Responsible individuals will be required to immediately submit official reports regarding such facts to internal affairs bodies or the "Inson" social services centers.

Why did separate liability become necessary?

The General Prosecutor's Office justifies the urgent necessity of this norm with concrete figures:

• Consequences of impunity: The absence of separate liability measures has enabled many sector employees to conceal severe offenses and turn a blind eye under the pretext of "protecting the neighborhood's honor" or "the organization's reputation";

• 1,000 bitter facts in Tashkent: Recently, nearly 1,000 such cases that were not reported or were concealed by responsible parties were exposed in the capital city of Tashkent alone;

• Illegal refusals: Among these cases, there were even instances of illegally refusing to initiate criminal cases regarding violations, demonstrating that it is time to establish strict oversight within the system.

In your opinion, will setting fines of up to 6.6 million so‘ms for failing to report completely put an end to the vice of concealing early marriages and domestic violence, or should criminal liability be introduced for officials who hush up severe cases? Leave your thoughts in the comments!