Details

Kyrgyzstan - annual report 2013

Published: May 21, 2014
Länderbericht Kirgisistan 2013IRZ cooperation event for Kirgiz administrative court judges of all instances from various regions of the country

Legal policy starting point

Kyrgyzstan is undergoing a process of change from the former presidential system to become a parliamentary democracy. The efforts to advance the necessary reforms in the fields of the judiciary and legislation continue to be slowed by the shortcomings in terms of political stability and overshadowed by accusations of corruption. The situation furthermore continued to be typified in 2013 by an administrative system which does not work effectively, by unsound social structures, by a difficult ethnic situation and by economic problems. The interplay of the state bodies with the newly-created powers maintaining the separation of powers has to continuously refocus on reaching the common goal and be orientated towards the welfare of the community. Nonetheless, the Government did adopt long-term programmes for sustainable development which particularly take account of the rule of law. The still-young cooperation with the IRZ in the legal field continues to focus on long-term support of these transformation processes aimed at the establishment of a rule-of-law-orientated parliamentary democracy. Hence, the activity of the IRZ fits in with the legal development work carried out by the EU to promote the rule of law such as the "EU Rule of Law Initiative for Central Asia" and in the project with the "Rule of Law" focus, running from 2014 in the shape of a grant project.

Cooperation to date

The specialist exchange to date has taken place with significant involvement from the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic as well as partly in cooperation with the "EU Rule of Law Initiative for Central Asia". The bilaterally-implemented measures served to continue and reinforce the thematic foci of the state structure and legislation. A further contentrelated aspect of cooperation was formed by access to information, data protection and public relations work among the authorities. For the first time, the IRZ organised local events in the legal fields of administrative and criminal law.

Major Partner

  • Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic

Strategy and method

IRZ Director Dirk Mirow travelled to Kyrgyzstan for the first time in October 2013 in order to identify new partners for bilateral cooperation and to discuss new formats and current topics for the continuation of the cooperation. Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt, State Secretary of Justice and Europe from the Saxon Ministry of Justice, took part in this visit representing the Board of Trustees of the IRZ.

Foci of activity in 2013

Constitutional law / human rights and their enforceability

  • Participation by representatives of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic (Zhogorku Kenesh) at the international conference entitled "The path to legislation – The role and influence of the institutions involved" in Berlin
  • Working talks by Dirk Mirow and Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt with Members of the Kyrgyz Parliament and the Chairman of the Parliament's committee for human rights, constitutional rights and the constitution on the development of justice sector reforms in Kyrgyzstan and on the topics for cooperation with the IRZ in Bishkek

Administration of justice

  • IRZ seminar and oversight of the project "EU Rule of Law Platform Central Asia" on legislative procedure and technique in Bishkek
  • Seminar with Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt, State Secretary of Justice and Europe of the Saxon Ministry of Justice, and Gudrun Grieser, member of the National Regulatory Control Council and senior mayor, ret., on the state structure, giving particular consideration to administrative structures in Bishkek
  • Working session by State Secretary Dr. Wilfried Bernhardt and IRZ Director Dirk Mirow with senior representatives of the Ministry of Justice, of the Supreme Court and of the Office of the Public Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic

Public law

  • Study visit to Berlin by representatives of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice on the topics of freedom of information, data protection, access to the law and public relations work in the legal environment
  • Two-day Kyrgyz-French-German seminar for judges of all instances on the system and basis of administrative (court) procedure in France, Germany and Kyrgyzstan in cooperation with the project "EU Rule of Law Platform Central Asia" and the Centre for Judicial Further Training at the Supreme Court at the Issyk-Kul

Criminal law and the law on the prison system

  • Seminar and workshop on the topic of criminal law with an introduction to the system of the General and Special Parts of the Criminal Code, giving particular consideration to modern forms of crime in cooperation with the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice in Bishkek

Outlook

The IRZ will continue to work together closely with the Ministry of Justice on a bilateral basis in 2014. It intends to expand the ongoing exchange and include in its work new fields which are topical for Kyrgyzstan such as the law on investment and electronic media in the judiciary. Furthermore, the IRZ would like to contribute to the new Lawyers Act. The IRZ is furthermore planning to apply to implement the large-volume EU grant "Promotion of Rule of Law in the Kyrgyz Republic". The preparation phase has already commenced, and a total of seven European institutions have said that they would like to cooperate on this project. The project is to consolidate a judiciary operating according to rule-of-law principles which is characterised by transparency, credibility and incorruptibility. It will concentrate on reform efforts to increase the effectiveness and modernisation of the judicial structures and the court system, as well as to combat corruption. In view of this high-volume workload, there are plans for the project to last for three-and-a-half years.