OSCE co-organizes seminar for defence lawyers on criminal justice procedures in Kazakhstan

Some 40 defence lawyers participated in a seminar on rules and standards of evidence in accordance with new Criminal Procedure Code co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with the Almaty Bar Association on 31 January 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The event aimed to help defence lawyers better understand criminal procedure legislation by learning rules of evidence and relevant defence strategies and enhance their knowledge and skills on a new institution launched pursuant to the new Criminal Procedure Code - evidence deposition procedure. Participants discussed general provisions related to relevance and admissibility of evidence, compellability of parties, testimony by means of multimedia technologies as well as principles of evidence in case of closed hearings and self-incrimination by a witness. National legal experts presented a general review of changes in the criminal procedure legislation with regard to powers and functions of defence lawyers in criminal proceedings.

The event was conducted as part of the Office’s long-standing efforts at building the capacity of law-enforcement officers and the legal community to effectively function in the new criminal justice system.