At a meeting of the committee on constitutional legislation, local self-government, and the regulations of the Jogorku Kenesh, Deputy Minister Orozbek Sydykov noted that the main goal of the bill is to increase the number of lawyers providing citizens with state-guaranteed legal assistance.
According to him, as of the beginning of 2025, there are 3,591 lawyers registered in the state registry, of which only 464 are members of the registry for state-guaranteed legal assistance (GGLA).
Sydykov also pointed out the problem of the shortage of lawyers in several localities, such as Kara-Kul in the Jalal-Abad region, as well as in the Jumgal and Ak-Tal districts of the Naryn region, where there are no lawyers at all. In 26 localities across the country, there is only one or two lawyers for each area.
To improve the situation, the bill proposes the introduction of two types of licenses for lawyers, which will differ by territorial scope:
- a universal license, valid throughout the territory of Kyrgyzstan;
- a localized license, intended for lawyers working within the system of state-guaranteed legal assistance in a specific area.
“We are actively working to encourage lawyers to join the GGLA registry to increase their numbers. However, this remains at their discretion. In the USA, there is one lawyer for every 300 people, while we have one lawyer for every 21,000 citizens, and in some areas, there are no lawyers at all. The goal of our bill is to ensure access to qualified legal assistance,” said Orozbek Sydykov.
Additionally, the bill states that to obtain a localized license, one must work in the system of state-guaranteed legal assistance for at least three years.
