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Kyrgyzstan - annual report 2019

Published: July 1, 2020
Visit of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe: Prof. Henning Radtke (centre), Judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, and Emil Oskonbaev (to the right), Vice-Chair of the Constitutional Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic
Visit of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe: Prof. Henning Radtke (centre), Judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, and Emil Oskonbaev (to the right), Vice-Chair of the Constitutional Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic

Strategic Framework

Legal Policy Starting Point

Kyrgyzstan enjoys the most highly developed structures that promote democracy and the rule of law in the Central Asian region and has a young, active civil society.

The parliamentary system has withstood several political crises in recent years. Most recently, the country‘s political stability was put again to a hard test in 2019. The power struggle between the former and incumbent presidents, which was played out in public for over a year, reached its peak when Almasbek Atambaev‘s status as ex-president was revoked and he was arrested in August 2019. These unfolding events created significant unrest and threatened the country‘s stability in the eyes of many people.

In addition to the difficult domestic political situation, the state leadership faces many other challenges: It must push ahead with democratisation and reform processes, modernise administrative structures, boost the economy and combat pervasive corruption.

By contrast, there has been considerable progress in the area of Kyrgyzstan‘s judicial reform. The Ministry of Justice, for example, has been completely detached from the judiciary and, unlike in other countries, no longer has any influence in matters of judicial administration. Instead, a large number of new judicial institutions has been created and all the tasks assigned to the judiciary were distributed among them. Following the official declaration of 2019 as the year of digitalisation and regional development by the incumbent President Sooronbai Cheenbekov, increasing digitalisation also took place in the judicial system during the reporting year. It is one of the decisive factors to improve transparency and efficiency in this area. However, at the same time, the judicial system continues to face many problems. These include, to name just a few, the weak court infrastructure, the lack of professionalism within legal professions and inefficient cooperation between the authorities, as well as the poor level of reputation among the general population.

In May 2019, the Council of the EU presented its vision for a renewed partnership with Central Asia in Bishkek and updated its strategy for relations with the region, which were first defined in 2007. Germany provided important and substantive contributions in this regard and it will continue to deliver committed support to achieve the newly defined goals for greater democracy and the rule of law. In spring 2019, Kyrgyz President Jeenbekov paid a two-day official state visit to Germany in recognition of the close partnership between the countries and of Germany‘s special role.

Overall Concept

In addition to the junior partnership in the EU-funded project “Promotion of Rule of Law in the Kyrgyz Republic“, IRZ continued its bilateral expert dialogue with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court in 2019.

The still young constitutional court jurisdiction, which faces some criticism in the country, is fighting for its existence and is particularly dependent on international support. Responding to this need, IRZ organised a study trip to Germany for Kyrgyz constitutional judges for an intensive exchange of constitutional law issues with German colleagues at federal and state level. A highlight of the visit was the expert talk at the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on the special characteristics and role of a constitutional court within modern democratic country based on the rule of law. During this expert talk, the 70th anniversary of the Basic Law and the related achievements and experiences in Germany were honoured. The discussion also focused on practical questions and examples of how the Federal Constitutional Court works.

Focus of Activity in 2019

Constitutional Law/Human Rights and their Enforceability

  • Study trip by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic to Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg on strengthening the constitution and principles of an effective legal protection system

Basic and Further Training

  • First participation of a judge in the internship programme for English-speaking civil and commercial judges in Königswinter

Project funded by the European Union

EU Grant project: The Rule of Law Programme in the Kyrgyz Republic 2nd phase (ROLPRO2)

Scheduled to run until 2022, the project to promote the rule of law in Kyrgyzstan entered its second phase in May 2018. The project builds largely on the results of the first phase (which started in 2014) and also addresses new topics. Joining several other consortium partners under the leadership of GIZ, IRZ is participating in the project with two longterm experts, who receive support from short-term experts.

The consortium partners have divided the extensive areas of responsibility into three components:

  • Component 1: Modernisation of the legislative procedure
  • Component 2: Support for the judiciary/court system
  • Component 3: Support for the Public Prosecutor‘s Office

The German organisations GIZ and IRZ have accepted priority tasks in the first two components.

During 2019, the project reached important milestones in the areas of e-justice and court administration. Among other things, the electronic file and court information system “AIS Suda“ was rolled out nationwide at all courts of first instance; its introduction at second instance courts has also begun. In addition, the judiciary opened its own data centre for the secure operation of system-critical judiciary applications. In the area of court administration and court management, the focus has been on developing a system for the evaluation of judges, training for managers and improving the informational content of court statistics.

For the legislation component, a website for public consultation on draft legislation has been developed, and a pilot version is already online. Several advertising campaigns and training measures in this regard are planned for 2020. An additional feature is the procurement of hardware required by the Ministry of Justice in this context. Progress was also made in the digitalisation of the legislative procedure, the creation of working tools and a cooperation platform for joint legislative work.

The work results achieved in 2019 will make an important contribution to increasing the effectiveness of judicial administration, strengthening the transparency and credibility of the judiciary and combating corruption.

Outlook

In the coming year, IRZ will work with its existing partners to identify suitable measures that complement the content priorities of the EU project.