Issues of Translation Studies in Uzbekistan: Interpretation of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code

INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND REVIEW ISSN-L8776-0932 E-ISSN 8776-0932 IF(Impact Factor)12.57 Issue:13 Volume:13 December-2025 http://bibjournals.is-great.net/ 1 Issues of Translation Studies in Uzbekistan: Interpretation of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code Altinova Fotima Pahlavon qizi Lecturer, Andijan State Medical Institute Andijan, Uzbekistan Tel: +99891 4901290 Email: [email protected] Abstract The article analyzes issues related to the language of law and legal translation into the state language of Uzbekistan. It examines foreign and national experience in legislative translation, identifies existing problems in legal translation using the Criminal Procedure Code as an example, and proposes scientific recommendations for improving the quality and accuracy of legal texts. Keywords: state language, language of law, Uzbek language, legal translation, legal terminology. Main Text The foundation of the socio-political development of any state is determined by the rule of law. It is essential that laws and subordinate legal acts be clear and understandable to all, and that legislative drafting be properly organized. Today, INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND REVIEW ISSN-L8776-0932 E-ISSN 8776-0932 IF(Impact Factor)12.57 Issue:13 Volume:13 December-2025 http://bibjournals.is-great.net/ 2 Uzbek legislation is being comprehensively studied through the integration of linguistics and law in such fields as forensic linguistics, judicial expertise, legal linguistics, linguodidactics, legal rhetoric, linguoculturology, and paralinguistics. Analyzing legislative texts from both legal and linguistic perspectives and preparing them for public use is one of the primary objectives. If we consider the historical development of the study of the language of law, AlFarabi in his work The Virtuous City emphasized that the language of law must be clear and accessible to everyone. He stated that a lawgiver must address each group of people in a way they can understand, taking into account their cognitive abilities so that laws may be both comprehensible and applicable in practice. In recent years, Uzbekistan has achieved notable progress in legislative drafting; however, certain problems persist. One of the most important components of lawmaking is the translation of normative legal acts from one language into another. This is an extremely responsible and complex task. Unlike literary or journalistic texts, legal texts do not allow free stylistic interpretation. Legal concepts cannot be conveyed through figurative language, metaphors, metonymy, exaggeration, or wordplay. Normative legal texts require strict adherence to sentence structure and maximum precision. To ensure the quality of laws, cooperation between legal scholars and linguists is essential. In developed countries, special commissions are established to draft and edit legislation, involving experts in linguistics, translation studies, and representatives of ministries of justice. As Professor A. S. Pigolkin notes, the translation of normative legal acts is a complex creative process that complements lawmaking. Unlike literary translation, it requires maximum accuracy, simplicity, and clarity of expression. Failure to INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND REVIEW ISSN-L8776-0932 E-ISSN 8776-0932 IF(Impact Factor)12.57 Issue:13 Volume:13 December-2025 http://bibjournals.is-great.net/ 3 achieve these standards may result in misinterpretation and incorrect application of legal norms. Academician A. Hojiev emphasizes the need for careful consideration when adapting Russian and European legal terms into Uzbek. Some loanwords create stylistic awkwardness and undermine the natural linguistic structure of Uzbek. For example, Article 301 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that an acquittal verdict serves as a basis for the rehabilitation of a person. The term rehabilitation is stylistically inappropriate and difficult to understand for the general public. Replacing it with acquittal or acquitted person would be more consistent with Uzbek linguistic norms and legal clarity. Law translation has its own organizational and technical rules, and failure to observe them may lead to incorrect translations, inconsistent interpretations, and violations of linguistic norms. Currently, some laws are initially drafted in Russian and later translated into Uzbek. As a result, Uzbek versions often lack clarity, contain stylistic complexity, and include serious translation errors. For instance, Article 22 of the Criminal Code states that a crime is considered committed through negligence if the person did not foresee socially dangerous consequences, although they should and could have foreseen them. This formulation is difficult to understand and reflects earlier Soviet-era legislative language. Laws are intended for the general public, and unclear wording undermines legal accessibility. Special attention must be paid to syntactic structure during translation. Misplacing clauses or modifying grammatical relationships can distort legal meaning. Article 14 of the Criminal Code provides an example of incorrect translation from Russian, INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND REVIEW ISSN-L8776-0932 E-ISSN 8776-0932 IF(Impact Factor)12.57 Issue:13 Volume:13 December-2025 http://bibjournals.is-great.net/ 4 where the phrase “under the threat of punishment” is incorrectly linked, resulting in ambiguity. Legal norms should be translated based on meaning rather than word-for-word correspondence. Article 23 of the Criminal Code contains literal translation from Russian that could be improved by using clearer Uzbek legal expressions. The Russian term уголовный historically referred to capital punishment but has evolved to denote criminal matters. Its literal translation into Uzbek as criminal (jinoyat or jinoiy) causes semantic distortion, as these words denote the act itself rather than matters related to crime. Professor Sh. Kochimov suggests alternative terminology, such as renaming the Criminal Code as the Code of Crime and Punishment and the Criminal Procedure Code as the Code of Criminal Adjudication. Modern translation studies, particularly in the field of legal translation, require deeper scientific and theoretical research. While significant studies exist on literary translation, research on legal and normative translation remains insufficient. Despite nearly 30 years of amendments and republication of the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code since their adoption in 1994, serious translation and terminological issues persist. Therefore, it is necessary to develop legal dictionaries, conduct linguistic research on Uzbek legislative style, regulate legal terminology, and abandon rigid Russian linguistic templates. Only then can laws become clear and accessible, ensuring unity between theory and practice and contributing to the development of a democratic state governed by the rule of law. References INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE AND REVIEW ISSN-L8776-0932 E-ISSN 8776-0932 IF(Impact Factor)12.57 Issue:13 Volume:13 December-2025 http://bibjournals.is-great.net/ 5 1. Kochimov, Sh. (2022). Linguistics of the Language of Law. Tashkent State University of Law. 2. History of Literary Translation in Uzbekistan. Tashkent: Fan, 1985; Development of Literary Translation in Uzbekistan. 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