PRI Project: Criminal legislation reform in Kazakhstan

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Background to the Project

In late 2011 it was publicly announced on several occasions that the Presidential Administration, General Prosecutor office and the Penal Committee had started the process of drafting new criminal justice codes:  Criminal Code, Criminal Procedural Code and Criminal Executive Code.  At the meeting on December 9, 2011 in Almaty the Chair of the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan Igor Rogov invited academics, international organizations and interested parties to send their suggestions on the proposed legislative codes to the working group under the Presidential Administration. The process of drafting new codes was limited by the period of two years: 2012 and 2013.

PRI with the financial support of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs will undertake a one-year project (April 2012- 2013) with the overall aim of the project being to build a solid criminal legislative base which will be less punitive than the current one and will promote alternatives to detention.

Key Project Activities include:

  • A campaign to raise public awareness of  the process of drafting codes and of the necessity to reform the system of punishment.
  • PRI will issue a series of expert papers which will provide legal analysis of the draft codes to inform ongoing debate and to promote the humanization of the criminal justice system.
  • An advocacy campaign to lobbying relevant stakeholders and promote the projects recommendations and suggestions of expert research papers 

Please contact  Ilyas Nurmaganbetov in PRI's Astana office for further details inurmaganbetov@penalreform.org.

Project Documentation