Kyrgyzstan

EU project in Kyrgyzstan: Progress in the area of court management – auditing of courts in Kyrgyzstan has started

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Published: April 27, 2021
The working group from the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on auditing national courts: Anarchan Bazaralieva (top left), Chairwoman of the working group; IRZ short-term expert Guldzhan Esenalieva (right), a former judge
The working group from the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan on auditing national courts: Anarchan Bazaralieva (top left), Chairwoman of the working group; IRZ short-term expert Guldzhan Esenalieva (right), a former judge
Kyrgyzstan

At the end of 2020, the Judicial Council of the Kyrgyz Republic decided to adopt a model for auditing national courts. This model should allow the auditing of administrative practices and court management based on a standardised process for the first time in Kyrgyzstan. The working group appointed by the Supreme Court to work on these developments has deliberately borrowed from European models, in particular the comparable German model and the uniform countrywide Austrian model.

This work has been supported by the EU programme “Rule of Law Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic – 2nd phase (ROLPRO2)”. This EU programme, in which IRZ is significantly involved under the leadership of GIZ in the areas of “Legislation”, “Court Management” and “e-Justice”, has supported the working group in particular with European expertise. This helped to ensure, not least thanks to its commitment, that the new auditing model in Kyrgyzstan – unlike the current Soviet-style “Proverka” (Russian for “review”) – will focus on the issue of court management and administration instead of reviewing the administration of justice.

The first audits are due to take place by the end of 2021. The judiciary in Kyrgyzstan is expecting the new system to deliver the potential for reviewing services nationwide and the service level of each individual court for the first time. In the long term, administrative practices should be standardised across Kyrgyzstan, along with a sustainable improvement in service quality.

In April 2021, the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic began to tackle the relevant implementation methods. These include the development of a training module for future auditors. As part of the training programme, guidelines for the objectives, scope, implementation (using checklists) and production of the final audit report should be discussed and communicated. The first training sessions are due to take place at the Judicial Academy of the Kyrgyz Republic, the national training institute for the justice system, during the second half of the year. The EU programme will continue to provide active support for this and other measures as part of its “Court Management” activities.

In addition to its auditing activities, the EU Court Management programme is also focussing on the production of a second improved and extended edition of a handbook on court management issued for presiding judges. The second edition, which is also due for publication this year, follows on from the success of the first edition. There was a lot of positive feedback from judges at the time about how useful these guidelines were. The audits and the handbook go hand in hand and together should contribute towards improving the level of service provided by courts and thereby enhance the reputation of the justice system amongst the general population in the long run.

Author: Christoph Kopecky, a long-term expert at IRZ on the EU programme to promote the rule of law in Kyrgyzstan

Test run for website for public consultation of draft legislation

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Published: April 2, 2020
Screen shot of the website for public consultation on draft legislation in Kyrgyzstan
Screen shot of the website for public consultation on draft legislation in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan

Within the framework of the EU “Rule of Law Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic – 2nd Phase”, which is being led by the German Development Agency (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH or GIZ) as head of a consortium involving several partners in Kyrgyzstan, the IRZ is supporting the legislation, e-justice and court organisation components. The complex subject of legislation covers the digitalisation of the legislative process and web-based public participation in legislative procedures. The IRZ and its Kyrgyz partners have set up a test portal on the Internet for public consultation on draft legislation, which has been online since the beginning of March 2020.

Although public consultation on draft legislation is compulsory in Kyrgyzstan, in practice only few draft laws have been commented on until now. Even in cases where this does take place, it generally involves only a limited number of non-governmental organisations. The extension of this participation is also hampered by the fact that legislative bodies each publish their draft laws on their own individual websites. Moreover, these websites are often not very user-friendly, with inadequate search options, for example, or even none at all. Those who do get involved receive very little feedback on their suggestions, since legislative bodies are not under any obligation to respond to comments and suggestions.

The development and introduction of the new standardised website for public consultation on draft legislation is set to solve all these problems in Kyrgyzstan. Officials are currently working with developers and other experts to further develop the test portal and improve its various features and functions. The search mode should make it easier to look for key words, individual areas of the law and legislative bodies, whilst the newsletter function ensures that those who are interested receive regular notifications about new draft laws. As well as draft legislation, the website will also supply all the supporting documentation (justifications, expert reports, etc.).

The plan is for legislative bodies in Kyrgyzstan to publish all draft laws on this website in future, so that citizens, associations and other representatives of civil society can then comment on them. Since it is compulsory for legislative bodies to answer these comments, the legislative process will become more transparent overall. Over the next few months, the IRZ will provide support with the supply of the necessary hardware components, as well as introducing a comprehensive training programme and a supporting advertising campaign in Kyrgyzstan. Once the definitive version of the website is online, accompanied by an app for mobile devices, this should lead to greater participation, increased transparency and more comments on draft legislation.

Delegation of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan exchanges experiences in Baden Wuerttemberg

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Published: July 18, 2019
The delegation at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe with their host Prof. Dr. Henning Radtke (centre), Judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, and the head of the delegation, Emil Oskonbaev (to his right), Deputy President of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court
The delegation at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe with their host Prof. Dr. Henning Radtke (centre), Judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, and the head of the delegation, Emil Oskonbaev (to his right), Deputy President of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court
Kyrgyzstan

The IRZ invited a delegation of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic to Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Heidelberg from 8 to 12 July 2019 to continue their successful cooperation and to exchange experience with constitutional topics. The study trip was aimed at exchanging experiences between constitutional judges from Kyrgyzstan and their German colleagues regarding the role and tasks of a constitutional court in a state governed by the rule of law and German constitutional law.

The highlight of the visit was the expert discussion at the German Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. As a court, the Federal Constitutional Court supervises the compliance with the Basic Constitutional Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, while the work of this constitutional body also has a political impact. This specific peculiarity of a modern democratic state governed by the rule of law was discussed in detail, acknowledging the 70th anniversary of the Basic Constitutional Law and the related achievements and experiences made in Germany. Another focus of the discussions was on practical issues and examples, covering competences, procedures and working methods as well as the enforcement and binding effect of decisions made by the Federal Constitutional Court.

The Kyrgyz delegation had also expert discussions with lawyers of the Deubner & Kirchberg law firm in Karlsruhe, at the Ministry of Justice and Europe of Baden Wuerttemberg and at the Constitutional Court of Baden Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart, discussing various aspects of constitutional jurisdiction, e.g.:

  • Lawyers‘ involvement in constitutional disputes;
  • the federalism of the Federal Republic of Germany and
  • the effects of Constitutional Court judgements on the citizens and the executive and legislative authorities.

The Kyrgyz guests took a particular interest in the training of Einheitsjuristen (unitary training for all legal professions) in Germany, since an increase in quality and a high professional level of judges are declared goals in Kyrgyzstan.

During the final expert discussions at the Max PIanck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, the participants discussed the perspectives of a German-Kyrgyz scientific cooperation on constitutional topics.

The German colleagues of the above-mentioned institutions created an atmosphere of trust during the discussions, so that the Kyrgyz participants could openly address the issues which were important to them and exchange their experiences with their German colleagues. This exchange of experiences provided an important contribution to strengthening the international contacts of the young constitutional jurisdiction of Kyrgyzstan.