Kazakhstan - annual report 2019

Details
Published: July 1, 2020
Delegation of the Academy of Justice at the Supreme Court visiting the Thuringian Ministry for Migration, Justice and Consumer Protection: Inka Strack (centre), Head of Division Court Organisation; Sagatbek Suleimen (to the left), Supreme Court Judge of the Republic of Kazakhstan and head of the delegation; Head of Directorate Thomas Kunz (2nd from the right), Head of the Central Department
Delegation of the Academy of Justice at the Supreme Court visiting the Thuringian Ministry for Migration, Justice and Consumer Protection: Inka Strack (centre), Head of Division Court Organisation; Sagatbek Suleimen (to the left), Supreme Court Judge of the Republic of Kazakhstan and head of the delegation; Head of Directorate Thomas Kunz (2nd from the right), Head of the Central Department

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

After almost thirty years in office, President Nursultan Nazarbayev stepped down from office in early 2019. An early presidential election was held on 9 June 2019, which was won by Kassim Yomart Tokayev. At domestic policy level, the country‘s extensive reform programme focussing on progress in the legal system will continue unabated, in particular within the judiciary and administration.

The European Union had emphasised its will to support development and stabilisation in the Central Asian region during the EU-Kazakhstan Cooperation Council in Brussels on 26 and 27 February 2018. The interest in enlarging on the cooperation with Kazakhstan is reflected in the new EU Central Asia Strategy, which was adopted on 15 May 2019, as well as in the successful implementation of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Within this framework, future cooperation in rule of law, democracy, the protection of human rights and other areas will be intensified.

Overall Concept

Criminal, criminal procedure and civil law will be the priorities of IRZ‘s cooperative undertakings with Kazakhstan. Important partners include the Constitutional Council, the Ministry of Justice as well as the Supreme Court and the General Prosecutor‘s Office with their respective training institutes.

General and very specialised topics were both important in the area of criminal law and criminal procedural law. The reforms of 2015 and 2016 in this field continue to raise many questions and have increased the need for further training. During the reporting year, IRZ organised events on the general course of criminal proceedings, including the course of a preliminary investigation, the criminal justice system, combating terrorism, aviation security and policy to combat corruption in particular. Basic and further training courses for public prosecutors were held on selected topics.

With a view to the planned introduction of family courts, a pilot project on family law initiated by the Supreme Court has been running in Kazakhstan since September 2018. The project aims to establish family centres throughout the country where young people in particular can receive advice. The range of consultations will be broad and should extend from legal and psychological assistance to mediation and marriage counselling. IRZ experts supported the Kazakh partners in holding a round table in Nur-Sultan to continue the cooperation on this topic, which started in 2018. Other important issues included in-court and out-of-court mediation and copyright law. A particularly pleasing aspect was the participation of two Kazakh representatives in the multilateral English-speaking internship programme for civil and commercial judges.

Focus of Activity in 2019

Civil and Commercial Law

  • The International Round Table on “Child-Friendly Case-law“ in Nur-Sultan
  • Seminar “Protection of copyright and related rights on the Internet“ in Nur-Sultan
  • Working visit to Erfurt on the subject of “Alternative dispute resolution“

Public Law

  • Seminar in Nur-Sultan on administrative court jurisdiction

Criminal Law and Penitentiary Law

  • Seminar in Nur-Sultan on “Principles and proceedings in criminal procedure law“
  • International conference on criminal law policy and criminal justice “Effective criminal policy and modern model of the criminal justice system - a guarantee for adequate protection of the constitutional rights of citizens“ in Akbulak near Almaty
  • Seminar on the course of preliminary proceedings under German criminal law in Nur-Sultan
  • Study trip to Hanover and Celle by a delegation of the General Prosecutor‘s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the topic “Combating terrorism and extremism in Germany“
  • Working visit for public prosecutors on investigation measures in Sonthofen, Kempten and Munich
  • Seminar in Nur-Sultan on aviation security
  • Seminar in Nur-Sultan on policy to combat corruption

Basic and Further Training

  • Participation of one legal practitioner of the Goethe Institute course “German for lawyers“
  • Participation of two Kazakh participants in the ninth “IRZ Summer School on German Law“ in Bonn
  • Participation of the Chair of the Union of Judges of the Republic of Kazakhstan and a member of the Union of Judges of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the multilateral IRZ event of the Memorandum Group of several national associations of judges in Bonn
  • Participation of two Kazakh representatives in the multilateral internship programme for civil and commercial judges

Outlook

Cooperation with Kazakh partner institutions will continue as part of Kazakhstan‘s comprehensive reform programme. This cooperation will receive further support by the new EU Central Asia Strategy, which was adopted in May 2019. IRZ cooperation activities with Kazakhstan will continue to focus on criminal and criminal procedural law and civil law in 2020 as well. Constitutional issues and the protection of human rights will again be addressed at joint events. There are also plans to further expand the exchange of information with the Kazakhstan Ministry of Justice and to accompany events concerning intellectual property.