Tajikistan

Legal tradition

Tajikistan belongs to the civil law tradition. A post-Soviet civil-law system whose institutions were rebuilt after the civil war of 1992-97 and the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord. Private law rests on a Civil Code enacted in parts from 1999. The constitutional order has been reshaped by amendment rather than replacement: the 2016 referendum removed presidential term limits for the incumbent as 'Leader of the Nation', lowered the minimum age for presidential candidates from 35 to 30, and prohibited political parties based on religion, which dissolved the only significant Islamic opposition party. The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region retains a distinct constitutional status.

How power is divided

Unitary with one autonomous unit. Two regions (Sughd and Khatlon), the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, the districts of republican subordination and the city of Dushanbe. Gorno-Badakhshan's autonomy is constitutionally entrenched and it has its own assembly, but the practical scope of that autonomy has narrowed substantially, particularly after the security operations in the region in 2021-22. Regional and district chairmen are appointed by the President.

Where law comes from

The Constitution

Supreme; as amended by referendum in 1999, 2003 and 2016.

Laws of the Majlisi Oli

The Civil Code, Criminal Code, Family Code and Labour Code are the principal instruments.

Presidential decrees and government resolutions

Extensive operative regulation, subordinate to statute.

International treaties

Recognised by the Constitution as part of the legal system, prevailing over inconsistent domestic law.

Acts of Gorno-Badakhshan

Apply within the autonomous region and are reviewable by the Constitutional Court.

The legal profession

Advocates are licensed under the Law on the Bar and Advocacy 2015, which introduced a state qualification commission under the Ministry of Justice and required existing advocates to re-sit examinations — a change that sharply reduced the number of licensed practitioners. Membership of the Union of Advocates is mandatory. Only licensed advocates may act as criminal defence counsel. Notaries are separately licensed and their participation is compulsory for property transfers, mortgages and many family instruments.