The Constitutional Model of the Uzbek State: From Sovereignty to Digital Transformation in the “New Uzbekistan” Era

The 2023 constitutional reform substantially broadened the content of Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, by enshrining five key state characteristics and establishing the constitutional model of the Uzbek state in the 21st century. Article 1 serves as a foundational norm, defining the vector of development for the legal system and state policy during the “New Uzbekistan” period. Purpose: To provide a comprehensive constitutional and legal analysis of Article 1 of the 2023 Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, detailing the five constitutional characteristics of the state (sovereign, democratic, rule-of-law, social, secular) in conjunction with the republican form of government, and to examine the mechanisms of their practical implementation in the context of digital transformation. The methodological basis of the research is a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach, integrating methods from legal science, political science, and comparative studies. The comparative legal method plays a key role in the methodological framework, enabling to analyze Uzbekistan’s constitutional model. This approach helps to identify universal trends in contemporary constitutionalism while respecting national specificities. The historical legal method is applied to research the evolution of Article 1 from the 1992 edition of the Constitution to the 2023 edition, revealing the dynamics of constitutional development within the context of political, economic, and social transformations of the independence period in Uzbekistan. The formal legal method is used to analyze the normative content of the state’s constitutional characteristics, their position within the constitutional law system, and their influence on the interpretation of other constitutional norms. The methods of induction and synthesis are applied to formulate universal principles of modern constitutionalism, adaptable to the national context of Uzbekistan. Systemic analysis makes it possible to investigate the interrelationship between five constitutional characteristics of the state and their cumulative impact on the structure of public power, the legal system, and human rights protection. The teleological method is used to determine the purposes and functions of constitutional norms in the context of Uzbekistan’s strategic development plans. This approach enables to connect constitutional principles with practical state policy and to assess their institutional implementation. Results: The study reveals the evolution of the constitutional norm from a concise formulation in 1992 to a detailed definition in 2023, reflecting the transition from post-Soviet formation to developed statehood. The paper demonstrates that Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan is in line with universal international legal standards set and the Sustainable Development Goals. The study reveals institutional mechanisms for implementing constitutional principles through judicial and legal reform, social programs, and digitalization of public administration in the context of the strategic initiatives of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Sh.M. Mirziyoyev. The study justifies that Uzbekistan’s constitutional model harmoniously combines adherence to universal democratic and human rights principles with national specificity and adaptability to the 21st-century challenges.