On February 10, 2022, the Committee on Legislation and Judicial Reform of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a "round table" on the topic: “On human rights in the field of criminal prosecution and execution of sentences in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, which was attended by the head of the Department of Criminal and Criminal Procedure Legislation, legislation on criminal enforcement proceedings, legislation on legal assistance of the Institute of Parliamentarism B. Beisov.
As part of the discussion of the topic under consideration, the Institute of Parliamentarism raised topical and problematic issues of mechanisms for protecting the right of private property in criminal proceedings in terms of confiscation of property to the state's income.
In particular, specific proposals were made to improve the norms of the current legislation in this area, based on the results of an analysis conducted previously by specialists of the Institute of Parliamentarism.
Thus, it is proposed within framework of legal proceedings, even before a decision was made to turn the confiscated property into state revenue, in order to compensate the damage to the victim from this property, thereby ensuring above all, the protection of the right of private property of citizens.
Within the framework of pre-trial proceedings, when a suspect is found guilty, it is proposed to provide for the right of the victim to petition the investigating judge for compensation for damage to property subject to confiscation.
It is proposed to provide for the right of the victim to file a petition for damages before the sentencing in the following cases:
- when the suspect/accused was put on the international wanted list;
- or criminal prosecution has been terminated against him, as a result of an amnesty act;
- or the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal liability has expired; -- or in the event of the death of the suspect/accused (similar to confiscation before sentencing, Chapter 71 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).
As part of the discussion, it was also noted that the Institute of Parliamentarism has developed a draft law on increasing the competitiveness and equality of the parties, the adoption of which will increase the protection of the rights of participants in the criminal process and reduce the accusatory bias of the court.
