Uzbekistan's Constitutional Court strikes down 10-day border detention without a judge
The court found provisions of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility incompatible with Article 27 of the Constitution; no one may now be held longer than 48 hours without a court decision.
Uzbekistan's Constitutional Court has struck down provisions that allowed people accused of violating border rules to be held for up to ten days without a judge's approval. The ruling was adopted on September 22 and took effect on September 25.
What was struck down
The court examined provisions of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility, covering violations of state-border and checkpoint rules. Under the old norm, a violator could be held up to 3 hours to draw up a protocol, up to 3 days if identification was needed, and up to 10 days with a prosecutor's sanction if they lacked documents.
The court found these norms incompatible with Article 27 of the Constitution, which bars holding anyone for more than 48 hours without a court decision. Notification or authorization by a prosecutor cannot replace a court decision.
How the case arose
The case reached the court through the parliamentary human-rights commissioner (ombudsman), Feruza Eshmatova. Her office had received six complaints in 2025–2026 about unlawful administrative detention exceeding the constitutional 48-hour limit.
The legislature was given one month to bring the norm into line with the Constitution.
