OSCE Centre presents results of project that strengthened debate on legal policy in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, 27 November 2008 - The results of an OSCE project that strengthened dialogue between the state and the civil society on legal policy in Kazakhstan were presented today at a news conference.

The project, financed by the OSCE Centre in Astana, included legal analyses and public discussions between state officials and non-state experts and policy-makers.

"It is very encouraging that Kazakhstan continues to advance and implement reforms, particularly in the spheres of criminal and administrative justice, and in the penitentiary system," said Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky, the Head of the OSCE Centre. "The involvement of civil society in this process adds fundamental expert views to the making and implementation of laws in this field."

The OSCE Centre organized the project in partnership with the local non-governmental organization Legal Policy Research Centre. Its director, Vera Tkachenko, added:

"Civil society, together with the international community, hopes that Kazakhstan will continue legal and institutional reforms in this field in line with OSCE commitments. We hope that these steps will go further than formal legislative changes."

Earlier, the OSCE Centre published five papers on related topics as part of the project: humanizing the penitentiary system and criminal legislation; promoting alternative sentencing and a probation system; reforming legislation on administrative offences, and rendering the law-making process in Kazakhstan more transparent.