Training in administrative law in Astana Republic of Kazakhstan
The new Code of Administrative Procedures and Procedures of the RK (APPK) came into force in Kazakhstan on 1 July 2021. Against this backdrop, IRZ has been providing advice on administrative and a Code of Administrative Procedure since late 2020.
As part of these consultations, a training course on “Administrative Law: Theory and Practice of Teaching” took place in Astana on 12-13 October 2022 in cooperation with KAZGUU University, Centre for Administrative Law and German Law. The target group were university lecturers who lecture on administrative law.
LMR Dr Christian Reitemeier, Ministry of Justice of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Dr Christian Schaich, Administrative Director, Centre for Eastern European and International Studies, opened the series of presentations by outlining the courses in law at universities in Germany, and then conducted exercises on practical case solutions.
The following topics were covered in detail:
Introduction to the German techniques and procedures for solving cases
Principles of administrative procedure and their application
Discussion and resolution of a case from general administrative law based on German law and with reference to the APPK RK
Individual instruments of public administration (legal and administrative acts) and their application
The feedback on the training sessions was very positive. As the event was held face-to-face, participants were able to exchange their experiences directly with the German experts and explore them further in personal discussions.
The consultations on administrative law will be continued in 2023.
Gutzeit, Peixoto, Wollenschläger Republic of Kazakhstan
The IRZ has been organising seminars on the “Application of the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Law Aspects of International Child Abduction (HKÜ)” in cooperation with the Hague Conference on International Private Law (HCCH), the Federal Office of Justice and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan (RK) since 2020. A follow-up seminar was held in Almaty on 20-21 October 2022.
Two German experts participated along with Raquel Salinas Peixoto, legal officer at the Hague Conference on International Private Law: Désirée Wollenschläger, officer at the Federal Office of Justice and judge at the District Court and Dr Joanna Guttzeit, liaison judge at the International Hague Liaison Judges Network and liaison judge at the European Judicial Network.
The Chair of the Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights at the Ministry of Education of the RK, Nasymzhan Ospanova, opened the event and moderated the program.
The IRZ experts discussed the following topics:
Details of the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
Federal Office of Justice as the central authority in Germany for international conflicts regarding custody
Differences in court negotiations for custody and visitation rights and child abduction
Use of mediation in court
Court practice regarding the application of the HKÜ
Hearing of the child
Cooperation of central authorities in the application of the HKÜ
Liaison judges at the Hague International Judges Network
The following speakers attended for Kazakhstan: Tokzhan Dyusembekova, Chair of the Almaty District Juvenile Court; Talgat Taskuzhin, Deputy Head of the Department of International Relations, the Department for Safeguarding the Functioning of Courts at the Supreme Court and Timur Yerdzhanov, International Law Attorney. They addressed problems in the application of the HKÜ in Kazakhstan and described their practical experiences.
The participants (80 attendees) consisted of representatives from the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the regional guardianship authorities and the juvenile departments in the police.
The face-to-face format enabled direct dialogue and exchanges with the attendees, who took an active part in the discussions.
The IRZ is planning an event next year with the relevant judges in Kazakhstan on issues around HKÜ.
The Republic of Kazakhstan adopted the policy to combat corruption for the period 2022-2026. A series of events have been planned on the theme of preventing corruption in the court system. IRZ organised an online seminar on the topic on 7 April 2022.
On 22 February 2022, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan adopted the policy to combat corruption for the period 2022 to 2026 by Presidential Decree.
As part of the implementation and using international expertise, seminars, lectures and training sessions on anti-corruption in the court system are regularly held at the Academy of Justice at the Supreme Court (SCJ) of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Academy is also continuing to address new developments in the policy to combat corruption in the judicial system and is working to develop a corresponding action plan.
On this occasion, IRZ and the Academy of Justice at the Supreme Court, organised an online seminar on "Policy to prevent corruption in the court system" on 7 April 2022.
The German expertise was represented by Mr. Helmut Leithäuser, Presiding Judge at the Regional Court of Wuppertal, and Mr. Wolf-Tilman Baumert, Head of the Economic Crime Department of the Wuppertal Public Prosecutor's Office.
Mr. Leithäuser presented the German anti-corruption policy during his lecture, focusing on the following priorities:
Statutory regulations to combat corruption in the Criminal Code
Service regulations and implementation in practice
Structure of the case law
Prevention within the courts
Mr. Baumert led the second part of the seminar and specifically addressed the prevention of corruption in the court system. He focused on the following topics:
Targets of corruption in the court system
The defence against the risk of corruption in the area of judicial decisions
The defence against the risk of corruption in the administrative activities of the judiciary
Response to the detection of violations
Approximately 35 judges from the Academy of Justice at the Supreme Court took part in the seminar. The event was followed by a lively discussion. It became apparent that issues concerning the position of judges in society, their financial and social security and the specific professional requirements were highly relevant to the Kazakh participants. The workload and attestation of judges and the question of whether they can be called to disciplinary responsibility were equally important issues for the Kazakh contingent. Subsequent events will therefore be organised.
