LEGAL TRANSPLANTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM: A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF UZBEKISTAN'S 2023 CONSTITUTION

Legal transplants are one of the main mechanisms through which legal systems change, yet the theory of legal transplants has rarely been applied to the constitutional reforms of post-Soviet Central Asia. This article examines the new Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, adopted by referendum on 30 April 2023, through the lens of transplant theory. Using doctrinal, comparative, historical and functional methods, the study identifies the foreign and international sources of key provisions, including the social state clause, the priority of international treaties, the abolition of the death penalty, habeas corpus guarantees, the right to remain silent and the right to protection of personal data. It then classifies these provisions as textual, institutional or conceptual transplants and assesses the conditions for their effective reception. The study finds that the most innovative provisions are procedural transplants of Anglo-American origin that operate as «legal irritants» in a criminal procedure with continental and Soviet roots, and that their success depends on implementing legislation, judicial interpretation and professional legal culture rather than on constitutional text alone. The article proposes a three-level reception framework (normative, institutional and cultural) and concrete recommendations for the implementation of the 2023 Constitution.