OSCE supports expert meeting on penitentiary legislation in Kazakhstan

The second of two OSCE-supported expert meetings on the harmonisation of some legislative acts in line with provisions of the new Criminal Executive Code of Kazakhstan took place on 10 April 2015 in Almaty.

The event was co-organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana together with the Legislative and Judicial Reform Committee of the Mazhilis (lower chamber of the Parliament) with support of the Penal Reform International Office in Central Asia.

Some 20 parliamentarians, representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Interior Ministry, Almaty City Administration and civil society discussed the amendments to concurrent legislative acts to make them adherent to the Criminal Executive Code adopted in 2014. They discussed the proposed amendments to some legislative acts in relation to post-penitentiary control and the development of probation service, administrative oversight, health-care services for inmates, terms and conditions in detention facilities, as well as the measures for strengthening non-custodial punishment.

Particular attention was paid to the package of amendments aimed to facilitate activities of institutions that provide social services for prisoners and ex-convicts. Additionally, the participants reviewed the findings of a delegation from Kazakhstan that recently visited Brussels, Belgium, with the support of the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, to study the Belgian experience in applying probationary control and using an electronic monitoring system.

The event is part of the Programme Office’s activities in supporting criminal justice and penitentiary reforms in Kazakhstan.