Failure to comply with the requirements of the Law – the main reason for the deprivation of the lawyer's license

The Ministry of justice regarding the claim about deprivation of the license Sizintsev, S. V., reports the following.

In accordance with the Law "On judicial bodies", the judicial bodies are obliged to monitor the activities of licensees to comply with licensing requirements.

According to the results of monitoring it was found that Sizintsev S. V. in the period from 2016 to 2018, he held the position of Executive Director of the RCU. S. V. Sizintsev has not suspended his license for two years, which is a gross violation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, being engaged in other paid activities along with advocacy.

In this regard, the Ministry in accordance with article 44 of the Law "On advocacy and legal assistance" initiated the claim about deprivation Sizintsev, S. V. licensed to practice law.

May 21, 2019 the court № 2 of Petropavlovsk city satisfied the claim of the Ministry of justice about deprivation Sizintsev, S. V. license to practice law. The court's decision has not entered into force.

Meanwhile, violations in the activities of the lawyer Sizintsev, S. V., have been identified by the Department of justice of North Kazakhstan region after 6 months after adoption of the Law "On advocacy and legal aid", and not related to his critical remarks on individual provisions of the Law.

It should be noted that the development of the draft Law "On advocacy and legal assistance" was preceded by a number of activities carried out by the Ministry of justice since 2016.

So, in the autumn of 2016, consultations with the Chairman of the Republican bar Anuar Tugel began.

On April 28, 2017, a round table on "Further development and reform of the Institute of advocacy" was held with the participation of deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, representatives of the advocacy community of Georgia, Ukraine, Turkey, the Council of advocates and legal associations of Europe, representatives of the world Bank, lawyers of Kazakhstan and representatives of state bodies.

May 29, 2017 in the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a Government hour on the theme: "Improvement and reform of the institutions of notaries and advocacy."

At the Government hour, based on the results of the discussion on the reform of the current legislation on advocacy, the deputies of the Parliament made recommendations on the improvement and further development of advocacy in the conditions of modern realities.

The draft law was developed in order to implement the provisions of the Concept of legal policy for the period from 2010 to 2020 and the instructions given at the meeting of the Council on legal policy under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On measures to improve the quality of the provision of qualified legal assistance to the population", providing for the improvement of the sphere of legal services.

Development of draft concepts was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Law "On legal acts", as well as the Rules of the organization of legislative work in the authorized bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan and legal monitoring.

In particular, the order of the Minister of justice created a working group to develop draft laws, which included more than 40 people, including representatives of the legal community: Baimukhanova K. R., Sizintsev S. V., Ibraeva G. K., Neyasov N. Mmm. Baigazina G. B., Kanafin D. K., Zhazylbekov N. Ah. Osokina I. Yu., Shaikhina A. T., Kulubekova A. A. and others. 

In addition, the analysis of the current legislation, draft concepts posted on the Internet portal of open NPA, the Internet resource of the Ministry and sent to accredited associations of private entrepreneurs and NCE "Atameken", as well as interested public authorities, prepared a preliminary conclusion.

At the same time, draft concepts and laws were discussed everywhere in the regions with the participation of lawyers, notaries, private practitioners and other stakeholders.

At the same time, taking into account the opinions and proposals of the working group members, developed in the framework of the development of draft concepts and the preliminary text of the draft laws, it was decided to improve the provision of legal services on the basis of the Law "On advocacy".

As part of the development of the draft Law "On advocacy and legal assistance", the Ministry with the participation of lawyers, notaries, private practitioners, representatives of state bodies, non-governmental organizations and international experts analyzed the current state of the legal market of Kazakhstan, studied international experience, held a number of productive meetings with international organizations (the Bureau for democratic institutions and human rights, the international Commission of lawyers, etc.), events to discuss the main provisions of the Law (round tables, conferences, hardware meetings, media appearances, and briefings to the regional office of the Central communications, video conferencing, etc.).

At the request of Tugel A., the consideration of the draft concept at the Interdepartmental Commission on legislative activities was postponed to September from August 2017.

On September 14, 2017, the concepts of draft laws were considered at the 437th meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission on legislative activities, the results of which were approved taking into account comments and proposals.

In October 2017, the draft Laws "On advocacy and legal assistance" and "On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on advocacy and legal assistance" were introduced in the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

As part of the discussion in the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a working group was created, which included representatives of the legal community from Kazakhstan, the USA and Austria, international experts of the UN and OSCE, which in General approved the provisions of the bill.

However, the representatives of the legal community in the face of Tugela A., Baimuhanov R. K., Sizintsev, S. V., Asylbekova N. A. Kurachenko D. P., Tokaeva A. N., Macanawai I. N., Chichinou A. T., Kasapova N. In. Kalabekova A. A., B. A. Raisova for 8 months, took an active part in the discussion at the working group meetings, where freely and openly expressed its position on agreement or disagreement with various provisions of the bill.

The Law was signed on July 5, 2018 (entered into force on July 23, 2018). In the implementation of the Law, the Ministry adopted 20 regulations, the development of which was attended by the representatives of the legal community, including to R. K., Sizintsev, S. V., Nosov, P. B., Akatova S. B., Ibraeva G. K., Niyazova N. M. Baigazina G. B., Kulabekov A. A., B. Baimagambetova, Bilyalov B. S., Shayhina A. T. and others. In addition, chambers of legal advisers have been established, an information system "unified information system of legal assistance" has been developed, etc.

In turn, the Ministry of justice is committed to the principles of open, constructive dialogue and mutual respect.

Despite strong criticisms, the Ministry of justice is grateful to all participants and members of the working group, including lawyers, for their suggestions, which helped to improve the bill.

The Ministry of justice respects the views of all participants in the discussions and understands the value of constructive dialogue with lawyers-members of the working group, who openly expressed their views and spoke with harsh criticism of the provisions of the bill.

The Ministry of justice has never taken, and could not take, any action against lawyers against their free expression.      

The rule of law is a fundamental principle for the observance of the rule of law by all persons in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan, regardless of their social status and official position, time and space.