1992, 2000, 2021: how has Uzbekistan's law on auditing activity changed?

One of the first paragraphs of an auditor's report states which standards the audit was conducted under. Today these are the international standards on auditing. The legal basis that led to this answer was built in Uzbekistan in several stages.

Why does audit need a separate law?

The auditor issues an opinion that a company's statements "can be relied on" or "cannot be relied on". Banks, investors and the state rely on this opinion. That is why the law must answer the questions of who can be an auditor, what independence is required and which standard the audit is conducted under.

Stage 1: the 1992 law

The Law "On Auditing Activity" was adopted on 9 December 1992 as No. 734-XII (LexUZ, Spinform). In other words, the audit law appeared in the first years of independence, even earlier than the Tax Code and the law on accounting.

Stage 2: the new version of 2000

The law adopted on 26 May 2000 amended and supplemented the 1992 law and set it out in a new version (LexUZ; yuz.uz also refers to the law in force until recently as the 2000 law). For the next twenty years auditors worked with exactly this version; it was amended from time to time (Spinform).

Stage 3: ZRU-677 of 2021

The new Law "On Auditing Activity" was adopted on 25 February 2021 as No. ZRU-677 (Kun.uz, UzDaily, yuz.uz). It was set to enter into force three months after official publication; according to Buxgalter.uz's calculation, that was 27 May 2021. From that day the 1992 law (in its 2000 version) lost force (Spinform).

One of the most important features of the new law concerns standards. Under Article 9, the international standards on auditing are the standards of auditing activity, and they must be posted on the official website of the authorised body. The procedure for recognising and applying them was set by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 171 of 11 April 2022. The Ministry of Economy and Finance page hosts the international standards on auditing, including ISA 700 and ISA 705 on the auditor's report, as well as model auditor's reports.

How long was each text in force?

We calculate the difference between dates with Python. For the first two rows the adoption dates are used. The days the texts were put into effect may differ: for example, the 2000 new version was put into effect from 1 September 2000 (Resolution of the Oliy Majlis No. 79-II of 26 May 2000). So the result is approximate.

Then and now

Example: the "Tog'li gilam" contract archive

The following example was prepared by the author; the company is hypothetical.

Sardor, the internal auditor of the hypothetical "Tog'li gilam" JSC, is putting the audit engagement contracts in the company archive in order. For each contract he needs to determine which text of the law was in force on the date it was signed:

Note: in April 2021 the new law had already been signed and published, but had not yet entered into force. The date a law is adopted and the date it enters into force are always checked separately.

Practical lesson: when reading an old auditor's report, compare the law and standards it cites with its date. A citation that does not match the date of the report is a reason to review the document again.

Link to the previous period: in the 20th century the international standards on auditing took shape; at the start of the 21st century, after major corporate scandals, oversight of audit was tightened. With the 2021 law, Uzbekistan moved to applying these international standards directly.