UZBEKISTAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Sherzod Abdulkasimov, Nazokat Kamilova and Navruza Yunusova, PraeLegal Uzbekistan
The Law on Domestic Arbitration treats evidence more prescriptively: it requires the parties to prove the cir - cumstances on which they rely and regulates the exchange of documents and materials between them, and a domestic tribunal remains anchored to Uzbek rules of evidence rather than enjoying the broader pro - cedural latitude of the ICA Law regime. 8.2 Rules of Evidence Arbitral proceedings seated in Uzbekistan are not gov - erned by any mandatory code of evidence. Under Arti - cle 34 of the ICA Law, the tribunal determines admis - sibility, relevance, materiality and weight, subject to party agreement and equal treatment; an international tribunal is therefore not bound by the rules of evidence applied in the state courts and may, where the parties agree or it thinks fit, be guided by soft-law instruments such as the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence. Domestic arbitration is closer to the court model: under the Law on Domestic Arbitration, the parties bear the burden of proving the circumstances they rely on, and the tribunal remains more tightly anchored to Uzbek evidentiary rules, though still short of a full court process. 8.3 Powers of Compulsion An arbitral tribunal in Uzbekistan has no coercive power of its own. It may direct the parties to produce documents or to procure the attendance of witnesses, but it cannot compel compliance; its sanction against a defaulting party is procedural – under Article 41 of the ICA Law, it may continue the proceedings and draw appropriate conclusions from the evidence before it, including adverse inferences. Where compulsion is needed, the route is court assis - tance: under Article 43 of the ICA Law, the tribunal, or a party with its approval, may request the competent court to take evidence, and the court applies its own coercive powers under the EP Code. The distinction between parties and non-parties is central: the tribunal’s directions bind the parties (sub - ject to adverse inferences for non-compliance) but not third parties, who can be reached only through the court’s assistance under Article 43. The position under the Law on Domestic Arbitration is the same – the
tribunal lacks coercive power over non-parties and depends on the state courts.
9. Confidentiality 9.1 Extent of Confidentiality
Arbitration carries a statutory presumption of con - fidentiality: under Article 53 of the ICA Law, unless the parties agree otherwise, the proceedings and all documents prepared for or produced in the arbitration – pleadings, evidence and the award – are confidential by default. The protection is not absolute: Article 53 permits dis - closure where it is a party’s statutory duty, where nec - essary to protect the rights of third parties, or where necessary for proceedings to challenge or enforce the award in court. Those three gateways are exhaustive; the ICA Law contains no residual necessity excep - tion. Information may thus be used in later proceed - ings within these gateways; otherwise, the obligation stands. The Law on Domestic Arbitration is to similar effect for domestic arbitration, treating the proceedings as private with closed hearings, though without the same detailed list of exceptions. Under Article 47 of the ICA Law, an award must be in writing and signed by the sole arbitrator or, in a plural tribunal, by a majority (any missing signature being explained). Unless the parties agree otherwise, or the award records a settlement on agreed terms (Article 46), the award must state its reasons, its date and the place of arbitration, and a signed copy is delivered to each party. The Law on Domestic Arbitration imposes a compa - rable set of mandatory elements for domestic awards – writing, reasons, date, and delivery to the parties – so that the two regimes share the same essential architecture, with any additional formalities supplied by the rules of the chosen permanent arbitration court. 10. The Award 10.1 Legal Requirements
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