Corruption as a social phenomenon continues to exist today in almost all countries of the world, regardless of political development, including in Kazakhstan, it differs only in scale. Corruption hinders the process of socio-economic development, building a market economy, and attracting investment. It has a negative impact on the political and social institutions of a democratic state and poses a serious threat to the country's future development. The fight against corruption has been identified as one of the main priorities of state policy in Kazakhstan.
Terminology
The term Corruption comes from the Latin word "soggitrege" meaning "destruction of the body of the state, public relations", as the meaning of the term "bribery" - a term that usually refers to the use by an official of their power and rights entrusted to them for personal gain, through fraud, extortion, red tape, contrary to legislation and moral standards. The term is most often applied to the bureaucracy and political elite. The corresponding term usually has a broader semantics, resulting from the primary meaning of the original Latin word, as well as unethical behavior.
For Kazakhstan, overcoming corruption is one of the main directions of state policy, the priority of which is clearly indicated by the head of state N. A. Nazarbayev. That is why the President, in his Strategy "Kazakhstan-2050", called the new political course of the established state as one of the priorities of the state, the fight against corruption.
The President of Kazakhstan, speaking about the fight against corruption, has repeatedly stressed that it is impossible to defeat corruption without the participation of society.
Classification of corruption
The law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "on combating corruption" provides the following definition of corruption - it is "...acceptance of property benefits and advantages by persons performing state functions, as well as persons equated to them, using their official powers and related opportunities, or other use of their powers to obtain property benefits, as well as bribery of these persons by unlawful provision of these benefits and advantages by individuals and legal entities, not provided for by law."
The international legal definition of corruption used in UN documents is as follows: corruption is the abuse of state power to obtain benefits for personal purposes, for the purposes of third parties and groups.
The urgency of fighting this socially dangerous phenomenon is due to a number of circumstances
corruption leads to serious violations of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens;
subjects of corruption crimes, as a rule, occupy a high social position;
sophisticated-intellectual ways of performing; this phenomenon adapts to various conditions, constantly changing and improving;
huge material and moral damage caused by this act;
exceptional latency-there is no complete data, or at least representative evidence about this phenomenon, even fewer perpetrators are brought before a criminal court, and only a few of them are given real criminal punishment;
corruption is not only hidden, but also consensual in nature, it usually does not lead to complaints, since the guilty parties receive mutual benefits from the illegal transaction;
corruption acts are usually committed in complex, specific and confidential types of government activities, where it is difficult for a layman to understand;
corruption seriously discredits the state apparatus and undermines its authority;
this phenomenon is rapidly spreading in government structures;
in fact, all public relations protected by law can become the object of criminal activity of corrupt officials.
The above list is not exhaustive, but even it shows that right now there is an urgent need to develop theoretical provisions, as well as in everyday, practical work to combat corruption. But before calling for opposition to any negative phenomenon, the latter must be clearly and specifically defined, to understand the causes and mechanism of this evil.
Is it possible to resist corruption?
In the modern world, efforts to strengthen the fight against corruption are ongoing and are constantly being improved. There is no unique set of anti-corruption mechanisms in the world that is optimal for all countries. The specifics of the sets of anti-corruption methods adopted by each country are unique and depend not only on political and economic stability, but also on customs and traditions, religious characteristics and the level of legal culture, as well as on the area of territory occupied, density, and population.
In the context of economic modernization and large-scale social transformations in Kazakhstan, the need for a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy, closely linked to the modern socio-economic policy of the state, was becoming increasingly obvious.
In this regard, the new anti-Corruption strategy of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2015-2025 was approved on December 26, 2014.
The goal of the Strategy is to increase the effectiveness of the state's anti-corruption policy, involve the entire society in the anti-corruption movement by creating an atmosphere of "zero" tolerance to any manifestations of corruption and reduce the level of corruption in Kazakhstan.
The key areas of anti-corruption identified by the Strategy are:
anti-corruption in the public service;
introduction of the Institute of public control;
anti-corruption in the quasi-public and private sector;
prevention of corruption in law enforcement and judicial bodies;
formation of the level of anti-corruption culture;
development of international cooperation on anti-corruption issues.