OSCE Centre in Astana supports discussion of draft criminal procedure code

A discussion of the draft Criminal Procedure Code recently introduced to the Parliament of Kazakhstan topped the agenda of an international conference, supported by the OSCE Centre and held on 15 November 2013 in Astana.

The  event brought together some 80 participants, including government officials, parliamentarians, local practicing lawyers and representatives of academia, non-governmental and international organizations. Three legal experts from Ukraine shared with the conference participants best international practices in developing, adopting and applying criminal procedure legislation.

The discussion focused on the extension of judicial control, plea bargaining, simplification of pre-trial investigation, the role and status of defence attorneys in criminal proceedings and the promotion of fair trial standards in the criminal justice system.

The event took place in the framework of an OSCE project on reform of the criminal procedure legislation and was co-organized by the Legislative and Judicial Reform Committee of the Mazhilis (lower chamber of the Parliament), the Central Asian Regional Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the non-governmental organization “Legal Policy Research Centre” with support of the Dutch Embassy.

The conference was part of the Centre’s continued efforts to support Kazakhstan’s authorities and non-governmental actors in reforming the criminal justice system.