The current condition of legislation on marriage and family in Central Asian countries: opportunities for improvement

Abstract

In the article, the author analyzes the current condition of legislation on marriage and family in Central Asian countries. The importance of the decisions of the Constitutional Court in the further development of family law is highlighted and it is recommended to study the experience of the Constitutional Courts of Central Asian countries in order to further improve the legislation of the countries of the region. It is concluded that the Central Asian countries have similar legislation on marriage and family. At the same time, there are a number of areas of legal regulation that vary in Central Asian countries. For example, the legal regulation of surrogacy. Regarding this issue, the legislators of the countries of the region adhere to diametrically opposed positions to each other: in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, "surrogacy" is allowed, while the legislators of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have taken a neutral position, and the legislator of Turkmenistan equates this construction to human trafficking. Examples from Kazakh judicial practice regarding "surrogate motherhood" are given. Using the example of individual disputes considered by local courts and based on the analysis of foreign experience, conclusions are drawn about the "ambiguity" of the situation around the construction of "surrogacy." The next issue on which the positions of the legislators of the countries did not coincide was the issue of medical examination of persons entering into marriage. The legislators of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have introduced mandatory free medical examinations of persons entering into marriage and the results of which must be notified to the persons entering into marriage. Whereas, the legislators of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan left this issue to the discretion of the persons entering into marriage.