OSCE Programme Office supports roundtable discussion on criminal procedure in Kazakhstan
The current trends and challenges in pre-trial proceedings on criminal cases was the focus of a two-day OSCE-supported annual roundtable discussion that began in Ak-Bulak near Almaty, Kazakhstan on 1 March 2018.
The two-day roundtable brought together some 70 high-level government officials, representatives of the judiciary, non-governmental organizations, academia and the Bar of Kazakhstan, as well as legal experts from Georgia and Germany.
Participants discussed the most important legal novelties in the Criminal Procedure Code related to strengthening the powers of the investigating judge and judicial control in pre-trial proceedings, procedural capabilities of defence lawyers in evidence collection, the application of simplified procedure and increasing the efficiency of the entire process.
International experts shared their experiences in judicial monitoring of pre-trial investigations and the role and powers of the prosecutor in criminal proceedings. Particular attention was paid to the need to approve covert surveillance and legal guarantees of the principle of privacy.
The discussion was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana in co-operation with the Supreme Court, Prosecutor General’s Office, the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) with the support of the German Foundation for International Legal Co-operation.
The event is part of the Programme Office’s long-term efforts to support criminal justice reform in Kazakhstan.