To address this, the President issued a decree on January 9, "On the Fundamental Improvement of the System of Raising Legal Awareness and Legal Culture in Society." This decree aims to establish a systematic approach to conveying the content and essence of socio-economic reforms, adopted legislation, and state programs. It seeks to instill in citizens the crucial idea that "establishing a spirit of respect for laws in society is the guarantee of building a democratic legal state." It also emphasizes teaching young people about their rights and duties, honesty, integrity, and the norms of etiquette from a young age, alongside important aspects of the Constitution.

According to the decree, raising legal awareness and culture in society should be systematically organized according to the principle of “person - family - neighborhood - educational institution - organization – society.” The “Uzbekistan-2030” strategy includes increasing the number of non-state general secondary education organizations to 1,000, tripling the share of students in these institutions, boosting the proportion of qualified pedagogic personnel to 50%, and ensuring that at least 50% of young people have access to higher education. Additionally, the strategy aims to increase the number of lawyers by at least 2,000.

The new legal thinking and high moral potential developed since gaining independence have been reflected in our renewed Constitution. The Constitution serves as both a product of the legal system, legal ideology, and culture, and as an important factor in forming, positively directing, and improving the legal consciousness and culture of the population.

The updated Constitution places significant emphasis on raising the legal consciousness and culture of citizens. For instance, Article 50 guarantees everyone the right to education and ensures the development of a continuous state education system, encompassing various types and forms, including state and non-state educational organizations. It also ensures free general secondary education and primary professional education, with compulsory general secondary education and preschool education under state control. Article 51 guarantees the right to higher education at the state's expense based on selection in state educational organizations, and Article 52 recognizes the role of teachers in developing society and the state, creating a healthy, mature generation, and preserving and enriching the spiritual and cultural potential of the people.

Currently, overcoming legal illiteracy in society, fostering respect for the law, and cultivating intolerance towards arbitrariness and corruption are essential. Legal education is not merely the accumulation of formal knowledge about law but involves the conscious assimilation of legal principles, turning knowledge into personal conviction, and strict adherence to the law.

Fiction, mass media, television, radio, and the press play significant roles in legal education. Legal consciousness is a component of the cultural life of society and a social function of the state. Legal education encompasses various activities such as mass media, wall newspapers, lectures, roundtable discussions, meetings, thematic evenings, and promotion of legal knowledge, which help enforce legal requirements and raise individual legal consciousness.

Educated, well-rounded professionals who know their rights and responsibilities, approach events independently and consciously, and harmonize their personal interests with the country's interests are crucial for building a new Uzbekistan. Every specialist must be familiar with the legal documents related to their field and capable of protecting their rights. Therefore, equipping professional staff with legal awareness, legal culture, and legal knowledge is a primary task for a country building a democratic legal state.

Legal culture represents the qualitative implementation of law in society. It acts as a barometer in utilizing legal opportunities to solve daily life problems and meet people's needs. As part of the general culture, legal culture requires conscious management of society and understanding the fundamental nature of social and political reforms. Increasing legal culture and literacy among all participants in legal relations is necessary for successful societal and state development.

To enhance legal consciousness and culture, it is important to expand training sessions on legal knowledge in schools and lyceums, prepare question-and-answer manuals on common legal issues, and distribute them free of charge. Statistics from the President's Statistics Agency show that the number of general education institutions has increased by 660 in the last five years, reaching 10,750 at the beginning of the 2023-2024 academic year.

Promoting legal solutions to common issues in everyday life, distributing legal information to families, conducting regular legal advocacy among young people and parents about marriage, alimony, and other legal matters, and organizing open dialogues with the population in neighborhoods is essential. Additionally, revising and teaching special training courses on the Constitution and human rights, creating new-generation legal textbooks, and organizing republic-wide contests in law among students are crucial steps.

Uzbekistan has 2,140 mass media outlets, a significant increase from 2016. Sixty-five percent of these are non-state media, indicating structural changes in the field. Internet publications are rapidly developing, reaching 745, and attracting more readers.

The role of mass media in ensuring public control, strengthening their connection with state bodies and civil society institutions, training and retraining teachers on legal topics, preparing master's and doctoral dissertations on improving legal culture, and researching family conflict and violence and their socio-legal consequences are urgent tasks.

Establishing law departments in all higher education institutions, perfecting the teaching of subjects like Law, Constitutional Law, and Human Rights, and systematically organizing television and radio programs and broadcasts on these topics is essential. Opening law faculties in pedagogical universities to train teachers who will educate students on human rights, jurisprudence, and constitutional law, and training legal-pedagogical personnel are also appropriate measures.

Muhammadi Usmonov,
Professor and Doctor of Juridical Science
Public Safety University of the Republic of Uzbekistan