Press release
July 5,this year The Head of State signed the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Advocacy and Legal Aid" and "On Amendments Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of kazakhstan on Advocacy and Legal Aid" (hereinafter-the Law.
These laws are aimed at strengthening the protection of rights,freedomds and legitimate interests of citizens in the exercise of their constitutional right to receive qualified legal assistance,as well as improving the mechanisms for its provision.
The law provides for a number of measures aimed at implementing the constitutional rights of citizens and resolving the following problems.
-Inadequate quality of legal assistance provided by representatives of the legal profession;
- The lack of the mechanism to protect citizens from acts of unscrupulous lawyers and private practitioners;
- Rapid obsolescene of knowledge and need for continuous professional development;
- Deficit of attorneys;
- lack of openness and transperency in the activities of bar associations.
In particular,in order to increase the responsibility of the subjects of the provision of legal assistance,the procedure for bringing them to account for the poor provision of legal assistance.
The Law provides for a two level-system of disciplinary comissions consisting of 6 lawyers,3 representatives of the public and 2 retired judges,which will ensure an objective and comprehensive review of citizens' complaints,openness and transparency.
Since 2020,compulsary insurance of the professional lability of lawyers,legal advisers is introduced,which will provide guarantees to the trustees in obtaining qualified legal assistance and reimbursement of the harm caused in the event of rendering poor quality legal assistance.
In order to improve the quality of the legal profession,the Law provides for a mechanism for compulsary annual professional development of lawyers,which will ultimately contribute to increasing the competetiveness and quality of advocacy services.
It is planned for remove the property barier in the form of entrance fees,which will provide access to the profession,respectively,the influx of young lawyers into the profession and increased competition between lawyers.
For citizens in a difficult social and financial situation,the Law provides for free legal and from a lawyer or legal adviser with full support of his legal situation.
In order to raise public awareness and fair pricing,it is envisaged to introduce an average cost of services (by types of services) for an attorney and legal adviser.This information will be publicly available on the websites of the bar associations and the chumbers of legal advisors,which will enable citizens to orient themselves and determine the average cost of the service and avoid its overstatement.
Also,the legal status,rights and duties of private lawyers.As we know,today every person with a higher legal education can represent the interests of a citizen in court,and often such assistance is provided poorly.Therefore,it is provided for the duty for persons representing the interests of clients in court to be in the chumbers of the legal advisers,which will undoubtedly contribute to the development of the legal services market in Kazakhstan,will increase the competetiveness and quality of legal assistance.
In addition,automation and optimization activities of lawyers and legal advisors are proposed through the introduction of an information system of legal assistance that will allow for the interaction of lawyers and legal advisers among themselves,with colleges of lawyers,chumbers of legal advisers,the state.
It should be noted that the law contains a number of other innovations,the main purpose of which is to ensure transparency,fairness and improving the quality of legal aid.
In general,the norms of the Law are aimed at providing affordable and high-quality legal assistance to the population with the highly qualified specialists.
Adoption of the law won't entail negative social and economic consequences,not will it require additional financial costs from the state budget.