Gift or Bribe? Hospitality, Legal Pluralism, and Corruption Risks in Uzbekistan

Gift-giving is a deeply embedded social practice in Uzbekistan, rooted in traditions of hospitality, reciprocity, and communal solidarity. While such practices function as expressions of respect and gratitude in private life, they pose significant challenges when they intersect with public authority and administrative discretion. This chapter examines the socio-legal boundary between culturally legitimate gift-giving and corrupt practices in Uzbekistan, asking to what extent entrenched traditions of hospitality affect corruption risks and complicate the enforcement of anti-corruption law. Drawing on a socio-legal methodology, this chapter combines doctrinal analysis of Uzbek legislation, comparative insights from the UK, the EU, and Türkiye, and original empirical data from a large-scale survey involving both enforcement officials and the general public. The analysis demonstrates that gift-giving in public service often operates within a grey zone in which culturally framed “thank you” gestures may function as inducements or rewards—a phenomenon conceptualised as “brifts.” Comparative experience confirms that even advanced legal systems struggle to regulate this boundary effectively and that absolutist prohibitions on gifts are neither realistic nor desirable in societies where hospitality is a core moral value. This chapter finds that Uzbekistan has made notable progress in developing preventive integrity mechanisms, including conflict-of-interest regulation and ethical standards for public servants. However, persistent gaps remain, particularly the absence of clear value thresholds, reliance on discretionary interpretation, and limited criminalisation of influence-based and intangible benefits. Survey findings reveal growing anti-corruption awareness among enforcement actors and the public, alongside continuing uncertainty over where cultural practice ends and legal risk begins. This chapter concludes that effective regulation of gift-giving in Uzbekistan requires neither cultural suppression nor purely symbolic legal reform, but a calibrated approach that combines clearer legal boundaries, institutional enforcement, ethical leadership, and sustained public engagement.

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