Effective criminal policy and the optimal model of criminal legal proceedings

There was an international conference on: "Effective criminal policy and the optimal model of criminal legal proceedings - a priority direction of the development of the modern law enforcement system" at the high-altitude resort "Ak-Bulak" in the Almaty region.

The forum is organized by the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Council, the General Prosecutor's Office together with the EU Project, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Office of Programs in Astana, the German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation.

The Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Talgat Donakov, Chairman of the Constitutional Council Igor Rogov, Chairman of the Judicial division for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court Abai Rakhmetulin, Deputy chairman of the National Security Committee Marat Kolkobaev, Deputy Attorney General Erlik Kenenbayev took part in the conference. In addition, deputies of the Parliament, judges of the Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Council, chairmen and judges of local courts, representatives of interested state authorities, NGOs, advocates, national experts. There were a total of about 100 people.

International organizations are represented by the Chairman of the Constitutional Supreme Court of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Razek Abdel Wahab, the Head of the OSCE Office in Astana Gyorgy Sabo, the expert of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe George Papuashvili. In addition, prominent foreign experts, legal scholars and representatives of human rights institutions from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands were invited.

The purpose of the conference is a broad discussion of the practical implementation of innovations in criminal, criminal procedural and penal enforcement legislation adopted in 2015.

Welcoming the guests of the international conference, A. Rakhmetulin noted that the conference in Akbulak became a good tradition and an expected event. It took its place in the expert discussion on broad issues of law and law enforcement. "It is gratifying that here you can hear the opinions of not only interested state authorities and branch organizations, but also foreign specialists. It is also important that here is a real expert discussion that allows you to compare positions and hear alternative opinions, "A. Rakhmetulin stressed.

Also, the chairman of the Judicial division for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court marked the symbolism that the current conference in Akbulak is taking place at the beginning of a new stage in the development of the country due to the practical implementation of the constitutional reform initiated by the Head of State. For the legal community, this is an excellent opportunity to reconcile opinions, develop relevant positions and new approaches to the forthcoming large-scale work related to the further reform of the legislation.

Noting the stated topics of the conference, A. Rakhmetulin noted that with the adoption of the new criminal legislation, Kazakhstani legal proceedings had departed from the previous model of the criminal process and had come close to international standards in this area. The improvement of the legislation is aimed at strengthening criminal liability for offenses that infringe on minors, for terrorist, extremist and corrupt crimes, for acts committed as part of an organized criminal group or community.

A. Rakhmetulin also drew attention to the fact that the Supreme Court, in order to implement the instructions set by the Head of State in his Address to the people of Kazakhstan, is studying the expansion of the institution of punishment in the form of fines and establishing reasonable deadlines for their repayment.

The first day of the conference was held in three thematic sessions. Within the framework of the first session, the participants had the opportunity to listen to the information about the constitutional reform in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Adel Omar Sharif, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Also within the framework of this session they discussed issues of legality as the fundamental principle of the criminal process, the principle of the presumption of innocence as a guarantee of the inviolability of the person in the criminal process, the agreement on confession and the transaction with justice, as well as the particularities of the judicial process for criminal offenses.

In the second session, representatives of interested structures spoke about the specifics of registration of economic criminal offenses, the use of holograms as a means of protecting material objects from forgery. Foreign participants spoke about pre-trial proceedings in criminal cases in the sphere of corruption and economics, the procedure for registering applications for a criminal offense with an emphasis on legal regulations and the practice of document circulation. Representatives of the Bar acted on the issue of competitiveness and equality of the parties in the light of the rule of law.

The third session is devoted to the topic: "Pre-trial proceedings: questions of theory and practice". Within the framework of it experts from Germany and the Netherlands told about the main criminal procedural measures of coercion and their legal prerequisites, the protection of trade secrets and business interests, the institution of evidence in the criminal process, etc.

Representatives of interested structures and legal profession spoke on topical issues of the criminal procedure legislation with an emphasis on such issues as the institution of jurors, observance of human rights in the criminal process,

In the course of the conference there was a constructive dialogue on all issues outlined in the program.