A Model for Regulating Islamic Finance Contracts in The Civil Code of The Republic of Uzbekistan: Codification, Shariah Compliance and Judicial Protection
Keywords:
Civil Code, Islamic banking, codification, Shariah compliance, contractual standard, judicial protection, consumer protection, invalidity.Abstract
The article examines the imbalance that has emerged since the introduction of Islamic banking in Uzbekistan between a well-developed public-law regulatory framework and an insufficiently codified private-law foundation. Law No. OʻRQ-1126 of 27 March 2026 addressed banking operations, licensing, Islamic finance councils and tax neutrality, yet it did not introduce murabahah, salam, istisna’, ijarah, mudarabah and musharakah into the Civil Code as distinct nominate contracts. Three models are compared: functional subsumption under existing contract types, a stand-alone special statute, and a framework chapter in the Civil Code. The article argues that the optimal solution is a Civil Code framework chapter consisting of general provisions and contract-specific sections, with operational details left to Central Bank standards. It develops a concept of provisions on the legal status of Shariah standards, the evidentiary weight of council opinions, the consequences of Shariah non-compliance, consumer disclosure, late-payment sanctions, the charitable allocation of late-payment amounts, and dispute resolution.
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