OSCE Centre co-hosts high-level roundtable discussion on prosecutorial reforms
ASTANA, 18 September 2009 - A high-level roundtable discussion on reforms to the role of Kazakhstan's Office of the Prosecutor General in civil and commercial proceedings took place in Astana today.
The event was organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the Union of Advocates of Kazakhstan.
The discussion on "Problems Ensuring Adversariality and Equality of Parties in Civil Proceedings" brought together around 45 high-level participants, including officials from the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Justice Ministry and Presidential Administration, Supreme Court Justices, members of the Constitutional Council, parliamentary deputies, representatives of the Kazakhstani bar, leading international legal experts and representatives of international and non-governmental organizations.
Participants discussed the role of the Office of the Prosecutor General in democratic societies and how the interests of the state can be represented in civil and commercial cases without negatively affecting the equal and adversarial character of the parties involved.
Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, said at the start of the event: "The office of the prosecutor plays an important role in democratic societies. But as a rule, its powers are limited to the initiation of criminal investigations and conducting of prosecutions in court. Only in exceptional cases and limited number of OSCE participating States does the prosecutor retain powers outside of the criminal sphere."
Kairat Mami, Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General, said: "We are ready to discuss a rational combination of the functions of the prosecutor and the court, in the interest of improving the justice system and providing true equality and adversariality of parties in civil proceedings".
Musabek Alimbekov, Chairman of Kazakhstan's Supreme Court, said: "The procedural form for participation of the prosecutor in civil cases has provoked an acute discussion in society and upset the balance of adversariality and equality of parties. We still have not completely disassociated ourselves from the 'Soviet legacy' of prosecutorial oversight in the justice system".
The final session included discussions on principles for equal and adversarial civil proceedings and their implementation in national legislation and practice. Participants concluded by considering a set of joint recommendations on reforms to the powers of Kazakhstan's Office of the Prosecutor General in civil and commercial proceedings.