To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of Uzbekistan about securing greater independence of the country's judicial system.

We regularly raise implementation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture's recommendations. Recommendation (d) calls on the Government to

"take the necessary measures to establish and ensure the independence of the judiciary in the performance of their duties in conformity with international standards, notably the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary".

In 2004 the UK funded an Electronic Court Reporting Project implemented by the American Bar Association CEELI, a public service project supporting the independence of the judiciary. It was preceded by a study tour to the UK by Uzbek judges.

We engaged in extensive trial monitoring during the terrorist trials of July to October 2004, which gave lawyers the confidence to put forward strong cases for their clients, gave the defendants the confidence to speak more openly and ensured that trials were conducted with a greater degree of openness and fairness. As a result, we believe that those on trial who were convicted received lower sentences than otherwise might have been expected.