nCa Commentary
Ashgabat, 27 December 2017 (nCa) — An international conference was held on Tuesday to mark the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Institute of State and Law under the president of Turkmenistan. The theme of the conference was ‘Development of statehood, legal system, and democracy in Neutral Turkmenistan.’
It proved to be an event to give insight into how the rights mechanism is shaping up in Turkmenistan.
Even though the official name of the institute in the English language is ‘Institute of State and Law,’ it is better to look at its name in the Turkmen language, which is the official language of Turkmenistan: Dowlet we Hukuk Instituty, which translates into the English language as Institute of State and Rights.
State and Rights – this description gives a better grip on the mandate of the institute.
The institute serves as a causeway between the state and the people.
It was discernible from the speech of the director of the institute, Yagmur Nuriyev, that his organization is a workshop for picking the ideas and suggestions from the government and the people, and turning them into usable products for the parliament and the administration. Simultaneously, the institute acts as a think tank, generating its own ideas and proposals. The main strand is to enable the government to deliver on the rights of the people.
Another institute – Institute of Democracy and Human Rights – bolsters the quality and range of output of the institute of state and law. The director of the institute of democracy and human rights, Begench Chariyev, described both the institutes as sister organizations.
The parliament is the legislative body for turning the products of both the institutes into laws for the benefit of the population.
Pirnazar Hudaynazarov, the chairman of the parliamentary committee for the protection of human rights and freedoms, lauded the work of both the institutes.
He also said that the recently revived national Halk Maslahaty will be the supreme body with overarching legislative and executive powers.
The Ombudsman of Turkmenistan, Ms. Yazdursun Gurbannazarova, talked about the role of her office in safeguarding the rights and freedoms of the people. — While the institute of state and law enables the government to deliver on the rights of the people, the Ombudsman’s office enables the people to obtain their rights from the government.
The picture thus emerges of a system that is taking shape to connect the people with the government at different levels, and through various channels.
In addition to the newly restored Halk Maslahaty, and the existing institutes of state and law, and democracy and human rights, and the Ombudsman’s office, the people have recourse to lodge complaints directly and offer suggestions to the district, provincial, and central administrations. In each case, there is a set time limit during which the complaints must be answered satisfactorily.
By the end of next year we will hopefully see the Halk Maslahaty functioning as the dynamo of the national life, including the rights and freedoms. /// nCa