Lawyers Against Violence

On December 15, the roundtable entitled Lawyers Against Violence took place online. The event was organized by the Chamber of Lawyers of the Republic of Uzbekistan, The General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, international non-governmental organization Regional Dialogue, and the Tashkent Center for Rehabilitation and Adaptation of Women. The Russian Federal Ba Association (RFBA) was represented by Yuri Pilipenko, the RFBA President. He emphasized that progress should not destroy traditions but women's rights and their emancipation also have a right to exist, and we need to remember, know and talk about it.

The event was timed to coincide with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which is annually celebrated on November 25 in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolution of December 17, 1999.

Alim Ernazarov, Chairman of the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Daniel Rosenblum, US Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Svetlana Artikova, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and Mjusa Sever, Director of the international non-governmental organization Regional Dialogue, addressed welcome speeches.

The round table was also attended by Pierre von Arx, the OSCE Project Coordinator in Uzbekistan, Elmira Bositkhonova, Deputy Minister of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Anar Baghirov, Chairman of the Bar Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Uktam Utaev, Prosecutor of the Department for Supervision of Implementation of Legislation in the Social Sphere of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as by other heads and representatives of government agencies and non-government organizations.

The discussion was moderated by prof. Gulchekhra Matkarimova, Director of the Tashkent Center for Rehabilitation and Adaptation of Women.

The issues of first aid to victims of violence, the problems of training specialists in providing services to victims of gender-based violence, the essence of the content of the protection order and the process of its execution, as well as the topics "Protection of victims of domestic violence: the experience of the Republic of Azerbaijan", "The role of legal education in the prevention of violence», "Aspects of the protection of women from oppression and violence" were discussed.

Yuri Pilipenko emphasized that on the eve of the roundtable, on December 14, the European Court of Human Rights published an unprecedented decision for the Russian Federation by which the compensation in the amount of 400 thousand euros was awarded for the Russian citizen for a cruel crime motivated by jealousy against her in 2017. The case caused a wide resonance in Russian society, and supporters of emancipation and increased protection of the rights of women, victims of domestic violence, paid special attention to it. This case has been selected as a pilot judgement and it is indicated that unless the Russian Federation changes its legislation in this area, any complaints concerning domestic violence will be considered by the ECHR as a priority.

President of the RFBA spoke about the legal regulation of the problem of domestic violence in Russia. Thus, a draft law on the prevention of domestic violence has been discussed for a long time, and the very discussion of this project causes great controversy and discussion in society. Moreover, several years ago, amendments were made to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation regarding beatings (Article 116 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), certain actions were transferred to the area of administrative regulation. This change was called the decriminalization of domestic violence and also caused heated discussion in the country.

As Yuri Pilipenko noted, today the topic of domestic violence remains relevant and acute, and it will continue to split the society, since there is no unity on this issue. In Russia, there are supporters of emancipation and for them the protection of the rights of women who are victims of domestic violence is a paramount task that they solve by every means available. There are also adherents of traditional views on this problem who categorically object to the existence of any separate legal regulation of domestic violence cases in the country. There is also a point of view that the adoption of a special law on the prevention of domestic violence is an attempt to create a parallel legal regulation when along with the non-family law with the presumption of innocence there will be the special family one with the presumption of guilt of a man.

“In Russia and in Uzbekistan as well as in many countries of the former Soviet Union, we are experiencing certain transformations in our society. The main thing is to maintain a balance between the traditions that have developed and exist in society, and the innovations that globalization offers us. Entering these processes of globalization or being their participants, and sometimes simply objects without our own will, we can lose touch with our traditions. And here such a policy of the state is very important, such a position of society, including the legal profession, which would stand up for maintaining a balance and call for it. After all, when we are carried away by any trend, we lose this balance, and society can return to the Middle Ages voluntarily or involuntarily “, Yuri Pilipenko is convinced.

At the end of his speech, Yuri Pilipenko emphasized that progress should not destroy traditions but women's rights and their emancipation also have a right to exist, and we need to remember, know and talk about it.