Astana—September 18th— by Serik Sabekov
Kazakhstan cannot blindly copy the western example of civilian legal proceedings, announced Talgat Sarsenbayev, a senior official in the general prosecutors office.
“Western experts have suggested to us that we take the suggestions of the European Union; that prosecutors should have minimal involvement in civilian affairs. But we should understand that blindly mimicking foreign models is not always adequate in our society,” said Sarsenbayev at a roundtable dedicated to discussing just practices and equality for participants in legal proceedings which began on Friday.
Sarsenbayev further noted the complex and sophisticated legal culture in Kazakhstan. He recalled that the West suggested that Kazakhstan place limits on prosecutors levels of involvement in civil proceedings. According to Sarsenbayev, the West believed this suggestion was an urgent matter.
Today, a discussion was underway between political and scholarly circles: is the state prosector’s involvement in civilian disputes justified, and how sizable should it be? Currently, prosecutor’s involvement in civil cases allows effectively advocacy for the interests of civilians who are unable to assert these independently, added an assistant to the general prosecutor.
There are definite shortcomings and flaws in judicial practices, said Sarsenbayev. According to the Supreme Court 93% of judicial decisions do not evoke such doubts and only 7% of decisions lead to further appeals. Naturally, in this 7% of cases, significantly, which in the first place are carried out in the interests of citizens, prosecutors don’t have the opportunity to defend the citizen’s rights.
The round table was organized by the general prosecutor’s office of the Republic of Kazakhstan in cooperation with the OSCE Office in Astana and United Lawyers of Kazakhstan.
from nomad.su:
http://www.nomad.su/?a=3-200909210034
