Criminal Law in Kazakhstan

Song “Let it be”

1. The criminal legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall consist exclusively of the present Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Other laws which stipulate criminal liability shall only be subject to application after their inclusion into the present Code.

2. The present Code is based on the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and generally accepted principles and norms of international law.

Objectives of the Criminal Code

1. Objectives of the Criminal Code shall be as follows: the protection of the rights, freedoms, and legitimate interests of individuals and of citizens, as well as of property, rights, and legitimate interests of organizations, public order and safety, the environment, constitutional order, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the interests of society and the state protected by law from criminal infringements, the protection of the peace and safety of mankind, as well as the prevention of crimes.

2. For the implementation of these objectives, the present Code establishes the bases for criminal liability, and defines what acts, which are dangerous for a person, society, or the state, shall be recognised as crimes, and establishes punishments and other measures of criminal-legal retribution for their commission.

The Basis for Criminal Liability

The only basis for criminal liability shall be the commission of a crime, that is, an act which has all of the attributes of a legally defined crime stipulated by the present Code. No one can be subject to repeated criminal liability for one and the same crime.

The Action of the Criminal Code in Time

The criminality and punishability of an act shall be defined by the law which was in effect during the time of the commission of that crime. The time of the commission of a socially dangerous act (failure to act), irrespective of the time of the emergence of consequences, shall be recognised as the time of the commission of a given crime.

Retroactivity of Criminal Law

1. A law which eliminates the criminality or punishability of a given act, and which mitigates liability or punishment for it, or which otherwise improves the status of a person who committed it, shall have retroactive force, that is, it shall apply to persons who committed relevant crimes prior to its introduction into effect, including persons who are serving their terms, or have served but still had a conviction on their record.

2. If a new criminal law mitigates punishability of a given act for which a person is serving a term, then the appointed punishment shall be subject to reduction within the sanctions of that newly adopted criminal law.

3. A law, which establishes criminality or punishability of an act, which increases liability or punishment, or otherwise deteriorates the status of a person who committed that act, shall not be retroactive.

Effect of Criminal Law with Regard to Persons Having Committed Crimes on the Territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan

1. A person who committed a crime on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall bear liability in accordance with the present Code.

2. An act which was begun, or continued, or ended on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shall be recognised as a crime committed on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The effect of the present Code shall also apply to crimes which are committed on the continental shelf, and within the exclusive economic zone of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

3. A person having committed a crime on a ship registered in a port of the Republic of Kazakhstan, but which is in the open water or air space outside of the boundaries of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shall be subject to criminal liability under the present Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, unless it is otherwise stipulated by an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Under the present Code, a person shall also bear criminal liability who committed a crime on a military ship or military aircraft of the Republic of Kazakhstan, irrespective of its location.

4. The issue of criminal liability of diplomatic representatives of foreign states and other citizens who enjoy immunity, in case of the commission of a crime by them on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, shall be resolved in accordance with the norms of international law.

The Effect of Criminal Law with Regard to Persons Who Committed a Crime Outside of the Boundaries of the Republic of Kazakhstan

1. Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan who committed a crime outside of the boundaries of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with the present Code, if a given act which was committed is recognised as a crime on the territory of a state where it was committed, and if those persons were not convicted in that other state. In case of conviction of said persons, punishment may not exceed the upper limit of the sanction which is stipulated by law of the state on the territory of which a given crime was committed. Stateless persons shall bear liability on the same bases.

2. Former conviction, and other criminal-legal consequences of the commission by a person of a crime on the territory of another state, shall not have criminal-legal significance for deciding on the issue of criminal liability of that person for a crime committed on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, unless it is otherwise stipulated by an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan, or when a given crime committed on the territory of another state did not concern the interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

servicemen of military units of the Republic of Kazakhstan located outside its boundaries shall bear criminal liability in accordance with the present Code for crimes committed on the territory of another state, unless it is otherwise stipulated by an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

4. Foreigners who committed crimes outside of the boundaries of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be subject to criminal liability in accordance with the present Code in cases in which a given crime was directed against the interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and in cases stipulated by an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan, if those foreigners were not convicted in that other state, and are brought to criminal liability on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Extradition of Persons Who Committed a Crime

1. Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan who committed a crime on the territory of another state shall not be subject to extradition to that other state, unless it is otherwise established by international treaties.

2. Foreigners and stateless persons who committed a crime outside of the boundaries of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who are on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, may be extradited to another state to be brought to criminal liability, or to serve punishment in accordance with an international treaty of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Bloom’s cube

1 Why
2 Explain
3 Call
4 Offer
5 Think up
6 Share

Complete the table “Insert”

Reflection

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