Corporate Criminal Law
The Corporate Criminal Law section covers issues in the Criminal Code of Uzbekistan on Corporate or 'White-Collar' Crimes, Administrative and other liabilities for breach or responsibilities or abuse of powers, etc; and provides overview materials on liabilities of chief accountants, antibribery regulations and etc.
The following is a brief outline on bribery in Uzbekistan:
“Bribery” is defined by the Criminal Code (Chapter VIII) as:
1. the receipt of a bribe,
2. the giving of a bribe, and
3. intermediary activities (mediation activities) with respect to the foregoing.
A “bribe” is considered the unlawful giving of material values or material benefits for the performance or non-performance of duties within the power of the bribe recipient.
Bribery is considered a crime in Uzbekistan, pursuant to Articles 210-213 of the Criminal Code dated 22 September 1994, as amended (the “Criminal Code”). Under the Criminal Code, only individuals, not legal entities, may be held criminally liable. But, while a legal entity cannot be criminally liable for activities constituting a crime under Uzbek law, its officers and employees may be held criminally liable for such illegal activities.
The Criminal Code provides that its rules apply to any person who has committed a crime in Uzbekistan. Thus, an officer or employee of a foreign company, or of the Uzbek representative office of a foreign company, may be held criminally liable if the bribery occurred within Uzbekistan.
It should be noted that unlike some countries (e.g., Russia), Uzbek legislation does not differentiate between commercial bribery and governmental bribery.