Independent Courts and English Common Law: What Uzbekistan Must Do to Win Investors’ Trust

The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, has signed a law establishing the Tashkent International Trade and Financial Centre (ITFC). One of the centre’s defining features will be an independent commercial court applying English common law to resolve international commercial disputes.

This model has already been adopted by other major international financial hubs, including the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), where independent commercial courts have become a key pillar in attracting foreign investment.

To better understand the advantages of English common law, the institutional challenges involved in creating such courts, and the priorities Uzbekistan should focus on as it implements this ambitious reform, Kursiv Uzbekistan spoke with Jayanth K. Krishnan, Milt & Judi Stewart Professor of Law at Indiana University, Director of the Stewart Center on the Global Legal Profession, and one of the world’s leading scholars on international commercial courts.

Professor Krishnan, what are the principal advantages of introducing English common law and an independent commercial court within a new international financial centre?

The greatest advantage is predictability. International businesses are familiar with English common law. Moreover, English common law has a long-established body of commercial precedent that investors, banks, and multinational companies understand.

An independent commercial court also signals that disputes will be resolved transparently and according to legal principles, not political considerations.

More than just deciding cases, such a court has to become part of the financial centre’s reputation, which can help attract foreign investment by reducing legal uncertainty.

From your research on the DIFC Courts and other jurisdictions, what institutional factors determine whether this model succeeds?

The success of the model depends on more than just adopting English common law. Of course, judicial independence is essential, but there are other required factors as well. These include having respected judges, professional court administration, efficient procedures, and reliable enforcement of judgments.

A new commercial court also can’t function as an isolated institution. There have to be constructive relationships with the country’s existing legal and judicial actors and other key governmental stakeholders. In my research, the jurisdictions that performed best were those that treated the court as part of a broader effort to strengthen the legal system overall.

Have you observed examples where attempts to transplant this model have fallen short of expectations? What were the main reasons?

I would hesitate to label any particular court a failure because many of these institutions are still relatively young. However, there are common pitfalls.

Some governments successfully import the visible features of the model, but they don’t build the surrounding, necessary legal infrastructure. Problems also arise when jurisdiction is unclear or when the existing judiciary views the new court as a competitor.

Ultimately, a commercial court succeeds because it earns trust over time; that to me is key.

What are the biggest legal or institutional challenges that Uzbekistan should anticipate during the implementation phase?

One of the biggest challenges will be defining the relationship between the new court and Uzbekistan’s existing judicial system. The legislation should clearly establish a few different but crucial points. These include what the court’s jurisdiction will be, as well as the applicable law that will be followed.

Other questions to consider are whether there will be an appeals process, and how judgments will be enforced throughout the country.

Another challenge will be developing human capital. Judges, lawyers, registrars, enforcement officials, and litigants must all be comfortable working with both common-law commercial principles and Uzbek law. Those institutional investments are just as important as the legislation itself.

In your view, what should policymakers prioritise during the first few years to build credibility and earn the confidence of international investors?

My advice would be to focus first on the quality of justice being experienced. I have found that too often courts and overseeing governmental bodies worry way too much about how many cases are being settled or disposed. It will be necessary for the government to appoint highly respected judges who can ensure the court operates independently. This is what happened in Dubai and what made it initially a very strong and successful experiment early on.

The government must also take the lead to make sure that the court’s judgments are consistently enforced. I would say that there should be an investment in professional court administration. And the government has to have transparent procedures.

In order to have true credibility, these courts have to be supported by policymakers who engage the domestic legal community so that these new institutions become integrated into the country’s broader legal system, and so that there is eventually a track record of fair and predictable decision-making over time.

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