Judge's Day, which is celebrated in Kazakhstan on June 24, provides us with an opportunity not only to congratulate representatives of the judicial system on their professional holiday, but also to think about the importance of judicial reform for our society. Judicial reform in Kazakhstan is a fundamental basis for ensuring justice, protecting the rights of citizens and strengthening the rule of law, El.kz reports.
The judicial system plays a key role in the functioning of any state. It ensures the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens, guarantees the implementation of laws and contributes to stability in society. In this context, judicial reform is becoming an integral part of efforts to modernize and improve the legal system of Kazakhstan.
One of the most important aspects of judicial reform is the strengthening of the independence of the judiciary. An independent judge is the guarantor of fair consideration of cases and the adoption of impartial decisions.
In Kazakhstan, measures are being taken to increase the independence of the judiciary from the executive bodies, which contributes to strengthening citizens' confidence in the judicial system.
An important step towards judicial reform was the introduction of new technologies and the digitalization of judicial processes.
E-justice makes it possible to speed up the consideration of cases, reduce the bureaucratic burden and make the judicial system more transparent and accessible to citizens.
Now in the Doing Business rating, Kazakhstan ranks 4th among 190 countries of the world in terms of digitalization of courts. Almost all civil lawsuits are now filed online. Also, many criminal cases get to the courts through a special service.
Over the past 5 years, a set of measures has been implemented in the field of the judicial system aimed at improving the protection of citizens' rights, strengthening the independence of judges for the impartial administration of justice.
In particular, a new Administrative Procedural Code has been put into effect, aimed at protecting the rights of citizens in the public legal sphere.
In a short period of three years, administrative justice has shown its relevance.
21 new courts (specialized inter-district administrative courts), judicial chambers in the regions and the Supreme Court have been created.
In this regard, in 2023, the number of cases considered in this order increased by more than 4 times (from 33 to 147). For 4 months. 2024, 70 cases were considered.
A number of new state structures have been created, subordinate and accountable to the President, such as the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, the Agency for the Protection and Development of Competition, and the Financial Monitoring Agency.
The constitutional status of such human rights institutions as the prosecutor's office and the Commissioner for Human Rights has been strengthened. A new body has been created – the Constitutional Court. Now every citizen has the right to defend his constitutional rights and freedoms in the Constitutional Court.
In addition, the Prosecutor General and the Commissioner for Human Rights have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court. These are those who most often face various violations of the constitutional rights of citizens and can raise the question of the compliance of normative legal acts with the Constitution.
The staff of the National Centre for Human Rights has been increased with the introduction of the post of regional representative of the Commissioner for Human Rights.