At the Administrative Court (VerfGH) for NRW: Jogan Merkel (2nd from left), member of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and Dr. Ricarda Brandts, President of the VerfGH/ OVG NRW (on his right) Kazakhstan
From 7 to 9 November 2018, a high-ranking delegation from the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan visited North Rhine-Westphalia to find out about the protection of constitutional and human rights in Germany.
The first ports of call for the working visit were the Administrative Court (“Verfassungsgerichtshof or VerfGH”) and Higher Administrative Court (“Oberverwaltungsgerichtshof or OVG”) for North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster. The delegation was welcomed by the President of both courts, Dr. Ricarda Brandts, and informed about the tasks and responsibilities of the VerfGH and OVG at regional level. OVG judge Holger Wöckel gave a report on administrative jurisdiction in Germany. At the express request of the Kazakh guests, the right of assembly was also explained and was the subject of lively discussions.
The delegation was welcomed to the Ministry of Justice for NRW in Düsseldorf by ministerial advisor Dr. Christian Reitemeier. The presentation of the new law on individual constitutional complaints in NRW, which will come into force on 1 January 2019, was met with great interest. The new provisions were introduced by the author himself, Dr. Andreas Klenke, who is a judge at the OVG Higher Administrative Court.
At the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Wuppertal, Senior Public Prosecutor Wolf-Tilmann Baumert reported on the protection of human rights in criminal proceedings. Jogan Merkel, a member of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and strongly involved in the fundamental reforms of the code of criminal procedure and the criminal code of the RK as the long-term First Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Kazakhstan, made the most of the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information on the subject.
To round off the study visit, the participants visited a law firm. Holger Hembach, a lawyer who has been advising on fundamental and human rights and especially on complaints submitted to the ECtHR for the past 20 years, gave a report on his many years of professional experience.
As a follow-up to the working visit, a representative of the Constitutional Council produced an extensive report on the results of the study visit, which has been delivered to the President’s office of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Secretary of State Philipp Fernis welcoming the Kazakh guests to the Ministry of Justice for Rhineland-Palatinate Kazakhstan
From 21 to 24 October 2018, the IRZ organised a working visit on “Training for judges” by a high-ranking delegation from the Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Trier and Mainz in Germany. The Supreme Judicial Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan acts as a guarantor of judicial independence and integrity, playing an important role in the appointment of judges in Kazakhstan, which in turn is carried out by the President. When the law on the Supreme Judicial Council came into effect on 1 January 2016, more authority was passed to the committee so that it can improve and reform the court system within the framework of “100 steps to achieving the five reforms set by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan”. One of the main foci of the Supreme Judicial Council is on the qualification requirements and prerequisites for candidates applying to become a judge.
During their stay, the delegation visited the conference facilities of the German Judicial Academy in Trier, the Administrative Court in Mainz, the Regional Court in Mainz and the Ministry of Justice for Rhineland-Palatinate.
At the conference facilities of the German Judicial Academy in Trier, the Kazakh guests were received by the Director of the German Judicial Academy, Dr. Stefan Tratz. As well as explaining the structure and organisation of training for judges in Germany, Dr. Tratz also talked about issues concerning the process of internships and prerequisites for being appointed a judge.
During the visit to the Administrative Court of Mainz on the second day, Court President, Dr. Bettina Freimund-Holler, and her Deputy, Dr. Christof Berthold, welcomed the delegation. They explained the tasks and responsibilities of the Administrative Court and answered questions from the Kazakh guests on judicial independence, the selection process and the appointment of judges in Germany.
At the Regional Court of Mainz, the delegation was received by the Court Vice-President, Dr. Ingrid Metzger, who led expert discussions on other issues including the disciplinary process.
Secretary of State Philipp Fernis welcomed the delegation to the Ministry of Justice for Rhineland-Palatinate on the last day of the working visit. Here, issues concerning the selection, employment, appraisal and promotion of judges were looked at in more detail. The delegation was also given a summary of the second judicial state exam.
The members of the delegation were able to develop a deeper insight into the training of judges in Germany during the expert discussions. To conclude, the working visit was a successful and fruitful event for the Kazakh participants.
Visit of the police headquarters in Nienburg (centre: Nurlan Yermekbayev, Secretary of the Security Council of RK) Kazakhstan
From 18 to 20 July 2018 a high-ranking delegation from the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) visited several institutions of the prison system of Lower Saxony to obtain information about the prison system and the training of police officers.
The members of the delegation were:
Nurlan Yermekbayev, Secretary of the Security Council of RK;
Alexey Kalaichidi, Head of the Law Enforcement System Department at the Executive Office of the President of RK
Berik Bissenkulov, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of RK; and
Azamat Bazylbekov, Chairperson of the Committee of the Criminal-Executive System at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RK.
The topics on the first day were the prison system and the probation service system. Dr. Peter Best, supported by Public Prosecutor General Dr. Frank Lüttig, gave a detailed overview of the German prison system and the alternatives.
On the second day the delegation visited the police academy in Nienburg and gained information about the higher education of police officers. Professor Dr. Heike Matthias-Ripke reported extensively about the three-year course at the academy, the individual subjects taught and about the career prospects after completing the study course.The next stop on the working visit was an afternoon at the police headquarters in Nienburg. The participants gained information on how the German police is organised and what its tasks are.
On the last day the delegation visited the prison in Sehnde. After a comprehensive introduction into the work of the penal institution, there was a guided tour of the training rooms and workshops, amongst others.
At the request of the Kazakh partners further consultations on the prison system are to take place.
A follow-up event in Kazakhstan in autumn has been proposed.
