Administrative detention for more than 48 hours without a court decision has been ruled unconstitutional
In Uzbekistan, a person cannot be detained for more than 48 hours without a court decision. The Constitutional Court has declared the 3-day and 10-day detention periods in the Code of Administrative Responsibility, which contradict this, to be unconstitutional.
Administrative detention for more than 48 hours without a court decision has been ruled unconstitutional
By its decision of September 22, 2026, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Uzbekistan found certain provisions of the second part of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility to be inconsistent with the third part of Article 27 of the Constitution.
This case was reviewed based on an appeal by the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis for Human Rights (Ombudsman). The appeal noted that in 2025–2026, 6 complaints were received from citizens regarding administrative detention of individuals for more than 48 hours.
"Arrest, detention and custody are allowed only by court decision. A person may not be detained for more than 48 hours without a court decision"
In accordance with the first and second parts of the same article, everyone has the right to freedom and personal inviolability; no one may be arrested, detained, taken into custody, kept in custody or otherwise restricted in their freedom except on lawful grounds.
According to Article 15 of the Constitution, the Constitution has supreme legal force and is directly applicable.
According to the second part of Article 288 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility, a person who violated the border regime or the regime at a state border crossing point could be detained for a short period to draw up a protocol. At the same time, it was provided that in cases where it is necessary to establish the identity of the offender and the circumstances of the offense, the person could be detained for up to 3 days, with written notification to the prosecutor within 24 hours from the moment of detention, and if the person has no identity document, for up to 10 days with the sanction of the prosecutor.
The Constitutional Court noted the following: the 3 and 10-day periods in the code exceed the 48-hour limit in the Constitution; no mechanism is provided for obtaining a court decision when the need arises to detain a person for more than 48 hours;