January 25, 2019
Tashkent
Five winners of a mass media competition for reporting on “Justice in the Rule of Law” were announced at an awards ceremony at the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan. The awards were presented as part of the Rule of Law Partnership in Uzbekistan, a project of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan, the United States Agency for international Development (USAID) and UNDP.
Journalists who have covered court processes on television, radio, the internet and in print; judges or court employees who have been active in engaging with the media; and researchers who have studied how the national legal system can most effectively work with journalists were eligible for the awards. Journalist winners were chosen from 70 newspaper, radio and television and internet outlets, who had produced more than 640 stories on recent court reform, justice and the rule of law.
Improving Uzbekistan media’s coverage of courts and the justice sector and helping legal professionals better engage with journalists are the primary focus of the Rule of Law Partnership. The Partnership works to empower journalists, ensuring they have access to information and providing training that leads to a better understanding of the legal system and its processes. Partnership activities have also included press conferences, briefings, and media tours of the Supreme Court and other courts throughout Uzbekistan. Not only does this lead to better media coverage and greater transparency, it also gives the justice system an opportunity to accurately present its reforms and lets citizens know how they can access and benefit from the legal system.
The competition was an excellent opportunity to celebrate the work journalists and legal professionals are doing together to make the courts system more transparent and open. The winners were selected in the following categories:
– The most active journalist in the field of television and radio broadcasting – the chief editor of the TV channel “Uzbekistan-24” Kakhramon Jamolov
– The most active journalist of print media – Yulianna Moroz, correspondent for the newspaper Pravda Vostoka;
– The most active journalist in the field of online journalism – correspondent “Kun.uz” Bakhodir Ahmedov;
– The most active judge and employee of the court – the judge of the district court Chirokchi Shahzod Bakhtiyorov;
– The most active researcher – Doctor of Law, Professor Zamira Esanova.