Uzbekistan sees steep decline in court acquittals in H1 2025

According to the Supreme Court’s press service, 204 people were acquitted and rehabilitated by courts between January and June 2025.

For comparison, in the first half of 2024, 465 individuals were acquitted – 2.5 times more than in the same period this year. Statistics also show that 564 people were acquitted in the first half of 2023 and 468 in the same period of 2022.

Throughout all of 2024, courts acquitted 723 individuals – the lowest annual figure in the past seven years.

Data on the judiciary’s performance from 2017 to 2024 shows that a total of 6,679 people were acquitted over that period. Year-by-year figures are as follows:

• 2017 – 263 acquitted
• 2018 – 867 acquitted
• 2019 – 859 acquitted
• 2020 – 781 acquitted
• 2021 – 932 acquitted
• 2022 – 1,010 acquitted
• 2023 – 1,244 acquitted

Earlier, it was reported that a total of 61,481 criminal cases were reviewed by courts in 2024. That year also saw the highest number of defendants in the past five years, with 77,995 people tried for criminal offenses. The crimes varied in their degree of social danger.

Specifically, 31,212 individuals (40%) committed crimes of low social danger, 19,688 (25%) were convicted of moderately severe offenses, 22,951 (29%) of serious crimes, and 4,144 (5%) of especially grave crimes.

In 2024, 20,655 people were sentenced to imprisonment – the highest number in the last five years. By comparison:

• 2020 – 7,107 imprisoned
• 2021 – 12,922 imprisoned
• 2022 – 17,610 imprisoned
• 2023 – 17,391 imprisoned