: 
Laws of the Republic of
Kazakhstan: A Guide to Web Based Resources
By Oleg Stalbovsky & Maria Stalbovskaya
Maria Stalbovskaya
has been a reference librarian at the Open Library for Legal Information since
1997. She holds an M.S. degree from the Tomsk State University (Russia), the
Historical-Philological Faculty. Maria Stalbovskayа
attended training courses for law librarians granted by Constitutional Legal
Policy Institute in 1999 and 2002 (Budapest, Hungary), in 2001(Riga, Latvia)
and 2000 (Moscow, Russia). Oleg Stalbovsky
holds an M.S. degree from the Tomsk State University (Russia), the Faculty of Mechanics & Mathematics and for a long time worked as information and computer technology specialist. Since
1998, he has been the Head of the Open Library for Legal
Information, Tashkent,
Uzbekistan. Oleg Stalbovsky participated in the
International Visitor Program of the United States Department of State “Access
to Information in the Public Libraries” (June 21- July 11, 2004). The authors
of this article were involved in important projects in the Republic of
Uzbekistan: “The Development the Digital Library on Human Rights”,
"Organizational and Methodical Support for Regional Public Law
Centers", "Legal Information Support Legal Information Support for
Under Judicial Investigation People”, "Creating the web-site of the Open
Library for Legal Information" and also "The Development of
Electronic Legal Resources of the Open Library for Legal Information".
Published October 2006
Read the Update!
Table of Contents
Constitution of the Republic
of Kazakhstan
State order in the Republic of Kazakhstan
Local Public Administration and Self-Administration
The
Republic of Kazakhstan is located in the middle of Central Asia with a
population about 15 million people composed of Kazakhs, Russians and others.
The territory covers 2717,000 square km. From 1997 Astana is the new (after Almaty) capital city.
The state
language is Kazakh. In state institutions and local self-administrative bodies
the Russian language shall be officially used on equal grounds along with the
Kazakh language. The predominant religion is Islam, with Sunnites in the
majority.
The Kazakh
khanate was formed in the 15th century and had 3 tribal divisions (juz). From
the 1860s all of them became part of the Russian Empire. November 1917 - March
1918 is the period of the establishment of Soviet power in Kazakhstan.
16
December 1991 became a turning point in Kazakhstan’s development when the
Constitutional Law “On State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan” was
adopted.
The legal
system Kazakhstan is influenced by the traditions of:
·
Islamic law (which functioned
until the beginning of 1920 and incorporated many norms of Adat,
local customary law with traditional prescriptions of the peoples of this
region)
·
Roman law (particularly by the
theory and practice of the Soviet law and socialist principles). Kazakh legislation is being codified:
legislative and other normative legal acts can be divided according to the
constitutional, administrative, civil, criminal, labor and other material or
procedural laws. A strict hierarchy of the sources of law includes the
Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the top, constitutional norms and
laws, codes and ordinary laws and other state obligations, normative decrees
and so on.
A more
detailed description of the Kazakhstan legal system is given by Marvin E. Nowicki in his “The Legal System of the
Republic of Kazakhstan” at the “Online Law Library in Central Asia”.
On 28
January 1993 the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan adopted the
first Constitution of the independent Kazakhstan. After that, on 30August 1995,
it was changed to the contemporary Constitution, which
was adopted at an all-nation referendum.
On October
7, 1998 the Parliament enacted a «Law on amendments and complements to the
Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan». This revision dealt with matters
pertaining to the president's term of office, age restrictions, succession of
authority in case of his death or resignation, and terms of Majilis
and Senate members.
The Main Law of
Kazakhstan constitutionally requires a presidential form of government. According to it, law reform in present-day Kazakhstan is based on ideological and
political pluralism, legislation ensuring the human rights and social-legal
guarantees.
Within the framework of the
formation of the legal foundations of state order following constitutional laws
were adopted:
· «On State Independence of the
Republic of Kazakhstan» (1991) (Russian)
· «On the President of the
Republic of Kazakhstan» (1995) (Russian)
· «On the First President of the
Republic of Kazakhstan» (2000) (Russian)
· «On the Parliament of the
Republic of Kazakhstan and the Status its Deputies » (1995)
(Russian)
· «On the Government of the
Republic of Kazakhstan» (1995) (Russian)
· «On Republican Referendum»
(1995) (Russian)
· «On Elections in the Republic
of Kazakhstan» (1995) (Russian)
· «On
Introducing Changes and Additions into the Constitutional Law (2005)
· «On Elections in the Republic
of Kazakhstan (Russian)
· «On Courts and the Status
Judges in the Republic of Kazakhstan» (2000) (English)
· «On Constitutional Council of
the Republic of Kazakhstan» (1995) (Russian)
· «On State Symbols of the
Republic of Kazakhstan» (1996) (Russian), and with amendments
(Russian)
· «On Introducing Changes and
Additions into the some legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan»
(2004) (Russian)
The principal
branches of Kazakhstan law have been codified. Here is the list of codes:
·
Elections code
(1993) (Russian)
· Civil Code, General part
(1994) (English)
· Civil Code, Special part
(1999) (Russian)
· Code of Civil Procedure
(1999) (Russian)
· Criminal Code (1997) (Russian)
· Code of Criminal Procedure (1997)
(Russian)
· Criminal-Executive Code (1997) (Russian)
· Tax Code (2001) (Russian)
· Code On Administrative
Violations (2001) (Russian)
· Water Code (2003) (Russian)
· Land Code (2003) (English)
· Forestry Code (2003) (English)
· Customs Code (2003) (English)
· Budget Code (2004) (Russian)
One can
find some other Kazakh legal documents in English on LEXADIN.
Article 3
of the Constitution states that the state power in the Republic of Kazakhstan
is unified and executed on the basis of the Constitution and laws in accordance
with the principle of its division into the legislative, executive and judicial
branches and a system of checks and balances that governs their interaction.
·
The legislative branch comprises
Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan (the Senate and the Majilis).
·
The executive branch comprises the
Cabinet of Ministers, state committees, others central and local executive
bodies of the Republic.
·
The judicial branch comprises the
Supreme Court and Constitutional Council and local courts (regional, district
and others).
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state,
its highest official determining the main directions of the domestic and
foreign policy of the state and representing Kazakhstan within the country and
in international relations. He shall ensure by his arbitration concerted
functioning of all branches of state power and responsibility of the
institutions of power before the people. (Art. 40 of the
Constitution). The President is elected every seven years on the basis
of universal suffrage. One and the same person may not be elected the President
of the Republic more than two times in a row.
In April of 1990, Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbaev became the
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. On 1 December 1991 the first general
elections of the President were
carried out, on which N. Nazarbayev re-elected the head of the state.
All-nation referendum of April 29, 1995 confirmed this decision. The 29th of
April 1995 the Presidents powers had been extended till 2000 at nation-wide
referendum. The 10th of January 1999 on the alternative basis had been elected
as a President of Kazakhstan supported by 79.78% of voters. 4 December 2005
nation-wide elections of the President of the republic took place where N.
Nazarbayev had been supported by 91,15 % of voters.
The official website of President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
consists of the Constitution
(English), Constitutional laws, Codes, Presidential decrees, and International treaties (Kazakh, Russian, English)
The
highest representative body of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral Parliament.
According to the President’s Decree having force of Constitutional Law
«On elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan» (1995) the
parliament will consist of two chambers (the Senate and the Majilis) and work on professional base. The first two-chamber Parliament was
elected in December 1995.
The Senate
is composed of deputies elected in twos from each region, major city and the
capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan, at a joint session of the deputies of
all representative bodies of the respective oblast, major city and the capital
of the Republic. The President also appoints seven senators. Terms of the
powers of Senate deputies shall be six years.
The Majilis consists of 77 deputies, 67 of whom are elected
from the geographical electoral districts directly by voters. 10 deputies are
elected on the basis of the Party Lists according to the system of proportional
representation and in the territory of a unified national constituency. Term of
the powers of the Majilis deputies shall be five
years.
Parliament
at a joint session of the Chambers: introduces amendments and makes additions
to the Constitution; adopts constitutional laws, approves the republican
budget, the reports of the Government, and the Accounts Committee about its
implementation, and introduces changes into the budget; conducts a second round
of discussion and voting on the laws or articles of the law; hears the report
of the Prime Minister on the Government's program and approves or rejects the
program and annual messages of the Constitutional Council of the Republic on
the state of the constitutional legality in the Republic or reports on the
activity of the commissions;; decides issues of war and peace; adopts a
decision concerning the use of the Armed Forces of the Republic to fulfill
international obligations in support of peace and security at the proposal of
the President of the Republic; puts forward an initiative calling for an all-nation referendum; exercises other powers
assigned to Parliament by the Constitution.
The
Government is appointed by the President and accountable to the Parliament. It
implements the executive power in Kazakhstan, heads the system of executive
bodies and exercise supervision of their activity. A new structure of the
Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan was re-established in 1999.
The
website of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan
contains some laws and decrees in Kazakh, Russian and English. More can also be found at Governments on the WWW: Kazakhstan (Gunnar Anzinger ).
Part six
of the Constitution contains fundamental regulations establishing
constitutional control in the Republic, which is assigned to the Constitutional Council. It does not belong to
the juridical system and it is a state structure ensuring the supremacy of the
Constitution of the Republic as of the Basic Law on the whole territory of
Kazakhstan.
The
Constitutional Council consists of seven members, the Chairman and two members
are appointed by the President of the Republic, the Chairmen of the Senate and Majilis of Parliament each appoint two members for the term
of six years.
Its website contains the decisions of the
Constitutional Council, the acting laws, the scientific articles and other
information. (Kazakh, Russian, English)
Local
representative bodies - maslikhats
– express the will of the population of respective
administrative-territorial units and with regard to the common public interests
shall determine the measures needed for its realization, and control their
implementation. Their jurisdiction includes development of drafts of plans,
economic and social programs for development of the territory, local budget and
provision of their realization; management of public property; appointment to
and release from office the heads of local executive bodies, resolution of
other issues connected with organization of the work of local executive bodies;
exercise other powers delegated to local executive bodies by the legislation of
the Republic in the interests of local public administration.
Justice in
the Republic of Kazakhstan is exercised only by the court. The judicial system
in the Republic consists of the Supreme Court Republic of Kazakhstan, the
highest judicial body, and regional, district, town, and city courts. (Art.75)
The
Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be the highest judicial body
for civil, criminal and other cases which are under the courts of general
jurisdiction; exercises the supervision over their activities in the forms of
juridical procedure stipulated by law, and provide interpretation on the issues
of judicial practice.
You can
also find English access to some useful information on the website of the Supreme Court. The Constitution, codes, laws, secondary legislation, and
decisions of the Supreme Court are found in Kazakh and Russian.
General sources
· Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices: Kazakhstan (U.S. Dept. of State)
· World Factbook:
Kazakhstan (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency)
Legal guides:
·
Multinational Reference (Law Library of
Congress)
·
Legal Research Guide to Kazakhstan (via
LLRX)
International law:
· Trade Agreements
The TCC's Trade and Related Agreements Database
(TARA) includes active, binding agreements between the United States and its
trading partners covering manufactured products and services (see Site Map for
disclaimers). It is designed to provide the public with information on
agreements currently in force.
· Treaties
are available free from Oceana Publications,
but you must register with them.
Foreign Resources for Kazakhstan
Legislation
· Database of national
environmental legislation NATLEX - database of national labor,
social security and related human rights legislation maintained by the ILO's International Labor Standards Department.
· ECOLEX - database of national environmental legislation.
Environmental Law Gateway (UNEP/ICUN)
· FAOLEX (United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization)
· FindLaw
· LEXADIN
· LawMoose Legal Search Engine
· LawGuru
· Internet Law Library: Kazakhstan
(Pritchard Law Webs). Law resources of the Internet organized by subject and
jurisdiction
· World Legal Information Institute - Free, independent and
non-profit access to worldwide law. 663 databases from 86 countries including
21 international databases.
· World Law Index: Kazakhstan (Australasian
Legal Information Institute)
· Internews Network - excerpts
· New York University School of Law
· Washburn University Law
Library - links to Kazakhstan legal resources
· International Digest of Health
Legislation (World Health Organisation)
· Social Science Information Gateway: Law. SOSIG:
Kazakhstan
· U.S.
Law Library of Congress for the Global Legal Information
Network (GLIN) - annotated hypertext guide to sources of information
worldwide on government and law available online
· Cornell LII - Legal Information Institute
· Economic Cooperation Organization
· Justice Initiative Legal Resources Database -
Open Society Institute
· Human Rights in Kazakstan
(Amnesty International)
· International Religious
Freedom Annual Reports: Kazakhstan (U.S. Dept. of State)
Local Kazakhstan legal web sites
· "Adviser". Online database of Kazakhstan legislation -
About 3000 documents are free (Russian)
· ZAKON.KZ Online database - Full legislation of Republic
Kazakhstan, more 30,000 documents (Russian). Some of them are free. Monitoring
of legislation (English).
· RCLI/ Republic Center of Legal Information of Ministry Justice
· Online database of Kazakhstan legislation "Zakon"
(Kazakh, Russian). News and Monitoring of legislation. State Register (Russian)
· General Office of the Prosecutor (Kazakh, Russian)
· National Bank of the Republic Kazakhstan
(Kazakh, Russian, English)
· The
Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Informatization
and Communications - Legislation on ICT. (Kazakh, Russian, English)
· Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation of Natural Monopolies
(Kazakh, Russian, English)
· Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Land Resources
Management (Kazakh, Russian, English)
· Agency on Statistics (Kazakh, Russian, English)
· List
of Kazakh Law Schools
(Russian)
· Adilet High School of Law (Kazakh, Russian)
According
to the Law «On normative legal acts« (1998) the
legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be published (Kazakh,
Russian) in the «Vedomosti Parlamenta Respubliki Kazakhstan» (or «Bordereaus of Parliament of Republic of Kazakhstan») and in
the following official newspapers:
·
»Egemen
Kazakhstan» / «Kazakhstanskaya pravda» (or «Kazakhstan truth»)
·
«Zan»(or
«Law»)
·
«Juridicheskaya
gazeta» (or «Juridical newspaper»)
More:
·
New laws, decrees, administrative
acts of the country are published in the official gazettes «Sobranie aktov
Prezidenta i Pravitel’stva Respubliki Kazakhstan» (or «The Compilation of
normative acts of the President and Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan»)
·
« The Bulleten’
normativnih pravovih aktov central’nih ispolnitel’nih i inih gosorganov Respubliki Kazakhstan» (or «The bulletin normative legal
acts of central executive and other governmental bodies of the Republic of
Kazakhstan ») ( Ministry of Justice)
·
"The Bulletin of Supreme
Court of Republic Kazakhstan» ( Supreme Court)