Deputies of the Mazhilis approved a draft law in the first reading on March 13, 2024, aimed at introducing fines for certain criminal offenses. The proposed law focuses on ensuring stability in criminal and criminal procedural legislation in Kazakhstan.
The draft law, titled "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Optimization of the Criminal, Criminal Procedure, and Criminal Executive Codes," addresses three main issues: strengthening the protection of citizens' and entrepreneurs' rights, enhancing the adversarial nature of criminal proceedings, and streamlining the criminal process.
The first block of amendments aims to enhance the protection of citizens' and entrepreneurs' rights by introducing measures such as excluding unjustified involvement of citizens in criminal prosecution, limiting the return of cases to prosecutors for revisions, and setting a 10-day deadline for search warrants. Additionally, the law proposes allowing plea agreements for certain serious crimes not involving fatalities and introducing multiple fines for certain offenses to ensure proportionate punishment and alternatives to imprisonment.
The second block focuses on strengthening the adversarial nature of criminal proceedings by enhancing the role of defense lawyers. The amendments propose granting defense lawyers the right to submit defense documents contradicting the prosecution's evidence and allowing lawyers to publish refutations in the media to counter negative publicity affecting suspects during pre-trial investigations.
The third block aims to streamline and modernize the criminal process by defaulting to electronic case management, expanding the use of video conferencing for witness testimonies, and improving the conditions and rights of convicts in the penal system.
The amendments also seek to improve the execution of non-custodial sentences, revise the types and procedures for imposing criminal penalties, enhance the conditional early release system, and strengthen security measures in correctional facilities.
Overall, the proposed amendments are designed to protect the constitutional values of Kazakh society, ensure the effective exercise of procedural rights by participants in criminal proceedings, and uphold human rights in the penal system. The approval of the draft law marks a significant step towards enhancing the country's legal framework and expanding the scope of administrative justice.
