The law which came into force today, 1 January 2015, aims to protect the labor rights of citizens and cancel repressive measures against entrepreneurs.
The new Code of Administrative Offences was developed in response to the President’s Address to the people of Kazakhstan “Strategy “Kazakhstan-2050”, and in order to bring its provisions into line with the requirements of the Concept of Legal Policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the period from 2010 to 2020, Kazpravda.kz reports with reference to strategy2050 Web portal.
It is reported that one of the reasons for the modernization of legislation on administrative offenses is the excessive degree of repressive administrative penalties, which in some cases surpasses criminal sanctions. The new edition will no longer contain those repressive measures faced by both individuals and businessmen.
In addition, the Code’s modification is associated with the reform of the criminal law. The adoption of the new edition of the Criminal Code inevitably affects the content of the Administrative Offence Code, since a new type of illegal act has been introduced such as a “criminal misconduct”, which is deemed an intermediate link between administrative offenses and crimes.
“So, along with the general procedure the new Code of Administrative Offences introduces a short proceeding that would apply only to natural persons. Natural persons are granted the right to pay only half of the awarded amount within a period of seven days after the imposition of a fine. This procedure is possible, if the individual acknowledges the fact of the committed offense, admits guilt and is ready to voluntarily pay a fine (Article 810 of the Administrative Code). If the person does not agree with the fact of the offense, the case is, of course, is considered by the general order,”- explains the commentary to the Code on administrative offenses.
In addition, the document contains a new chapter dealing with the appeals against the acts of bodies or officials conducting the proceedings of an administrative offense. Also it contains a clause on keeping the minutes of a court session in order to improve the court procedures, to protect the rights and legitimate interests of participants of litigations on administrative offenses.
“The new code is also oriented towards humanization that is expressed in the support of small businesses. In particular, in the new Code of Administrative Offences the amount of penalties for small businesses are reduced on average by 50% as compared to the current Code. The maximum period of an administrative detention is reduced to 30 days, while in the current Code the maximum period of an administrative detention comprises 45 days. The number of offences penalized by arrest was reduced: in the new Administrative Code there are only 48 offences penalized by arrest, while in the current Code arrest is applied to 91 types of offences” – the report says.
Written by: Kseniya Voronina
