Central Asia Rule of Law Programme
Implementing organisation: Council of Europe
Duration: 02/01/2020 – 01/01/2024
Project budget: Total budget € 8,888,82; EU contribution € 8,000,000
Beneficiary Countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Keywords: Rule of law, human rights, democracy
Contract number: ACA/2019/410-424
Project Description
The Programme aims to improve the lives of citizens by reinforcing human rights, rule of law and democracy in accordance with European and other international standards, based on a demand-driven approach. The Programme is open to all Central Asian countries wishing to benefit from the Council of Europe expertise and meeting the conditions for co-operation in line with the policy of the Council of Europe towards neighbouring regions.
The Programme consists of 3 main Actions:
1. Facilitating the creation of a common legal space between Europe and Central Asia and enhancing human rights protection;
2. Promoting transparency and action against economic crime;
3. Promoting efficient functioning of state institutions and public administration.
Main target groups
National governments, officials of beneficiary institutions (judges, prosecutors, law enforcement
officers, civil servants), business associations, national parliaments, line ministries, Constitutional, Supreme and ordinary courts, high judicial councils, legal professionals
Expected results
- Promote and expand a regional common legal space between Europe and Central Asia and enhance human rights protection;
- Enhance business integrity and compliance in the private sector, reducing administrative barriers and ensuring the protection of rights of entrepreneurs in countries Central Asia;
- Enhance the effectiveness of anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and asset recovery systems in the countries of Central Asia;
- Enable national counterparts to reform the national legal systems, state institutions and
the judiciary.
Achievements to date
Different specialised teams in the Council of Europe held consultations with the beneficiary institutions and the European Union Delegations to fine-tune the programme workplans; a desk review of the anti-corruption framework in Kyrgyzstan following GRECO’s approach in the First Evaluation Round covering specialised bodies and immunities has been completed; recommendations for improvement of the regulatory framework on the newly created Anti-corruption Agency were provided to the authorities of Uzbekistan; a legal review of the draft amendments to the AML/CFT Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan has been completed.
