OSCE's human rights office concerned about broadening of prosecutors' powers in Kazakhstan

WARSAW, 16 August 2002 - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) expressed its concern about a new law broadening the powers of the Prosecutor's Office in Kazakhstan. The law was passed by Parliament in June and declared constitutional by the Constitutional Council on 5 August, but still needs to be signed by the President.

"The new law runs completely counter to the general positive trend in many other former socialist countries which have gradually reduced the power of prosecutors in order to live up to international human rights norms", said Ambassador Gerard Stoudmann, Director of the OSCE's human rights office. "We call on Kazakhstan to follow these examples and restrict the prosecutors' role to the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases and to bring the law into compliance with international standards."

This was also the conclusion of an expert assessment that the ODIHR provided to the Kazkah authorities before the proposed amendments were adopted by Parliament.

It is of particular concern that the new law would allow prosecutors, with the agreement of the Prosecutor General or his deputy, to suspend court decisions and sentences. This contradicts the fundamental democratic principle of separation of powers.

The ODIHR regrets this development, in particular in light of the intended formal ratification by Kazakhstan of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The broad powers assigned to the prosecutor's office in many CIS states, a heritage from the Soviet legal system, contravene international law which provides that certain restrictions of human rights, including interference with privacy, arrest and detention, must be taken by an independent judicial authority.