The National Guard is empowered to impose punishment for student offenses

According to Senator Rustam Kalonov, thanks to the efforts of National Guard inspectors-psychologists, attendance in schools has increased from 50 percent to 95 percent since last year.

Now the National Guard bodies are authorized to impose penalties for violations such as non-fulfillment of obligations to educate children, smoking cigarettes and alcohol in a public place. This was reported by Kun.uz.

On January 25 of this year, at the third plenary session of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, the law "On amendments to the Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Administrative Responsibility in connection with the improvement of the system of crime prevention among minors" was considered.

From February 2024, inspectors-psychologists of the internal affairs bodies on juvenile issues were transferred to the structure of the National Guard. From February to the present, inspector-psychologists of the National Guard have detected 44,450 cases of "failure to fulfill obligations to educate and educate children" (Article 47 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility) and ensured the application of administrative penalties through preventive inspectors of the internal affairs bodies. Also, about 175,000 letters of warning were written by parents regarding cases of not sending their children to school.

"Today, depending on the number of children in schools, there are 3 to 10 schools for 1 inspector-psychologist. Last year, the attendance rate in schools was 50 percent, now this figure is 90-95 percent.

However, the fact that inspectors-psychologists bring the juvenile offender's parents to the prevention inspector of the support point to apply administrative sanctions, and the application of administrative sanctions negatively affects the effectiveness of the work of inspectors-psychologists and leads to excessive time," said Senator Rustam Kalonov.

In this regard, the law amends Articles 248 and 248-1 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility on the powers of the National Guard and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In particular, the National Guard bodies, including its juvenile inspector-psychologists, are authorized to consider administrative cases under Article 4 of the Code of Administrative Offenses:

• Failure to fulfill obligations for the upbringing and education of children (Article 47);

• Smoking in public places (Article 56-1)

• Consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places (Art.187, Para.1);

• It is authorized to consider administrative cases and apply sanctions for involving a minor in antisocial behavior (Article 188).

It is also envisaged that these powers will be excluded from the powers of juvenile inspectors-psychologists of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

According to the senators, the law complies with the Constitution and laws of Uzbekistan and does not require additional expenditures from the budget. The Senate approved the law. The document will come into force after it is signed by the president.