In the IV quarter of 2020, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Joint-Stock Company "National Information Technologies" implemented a joint pilot project to automate the processes of appointing a lawyer as a defense lawyer by the bodies conducting criminal proceedings at the stage of pre-trial investigation, calculation and payment within the framework of state-guaranteed legal assistance (hereinafter referred to as the) through the information system "Unified Information System of Legal Aid" (hereinafter – IS " E-zan komegi») in the city of Nur-Sultan, Zhambyl and Mangistau regions.
The pilot project has shown its importance in today's realities, by ensuring the effectiveness of the transition to paperless document management, transparency and timeliness of the appointment of lawyers by pre-trial investigation bodies, equal distribution of assignments and equal access of lawyers to legal aid as assigned defense lawyers, simplifying and speeding up the process of paying lawyers, which ensures their independence from the management bodies of bar associations.
In turn, in order to provide citizens with qualified legal assistance, it is planned to further implement a pilot project on the appointment of lawyers in electronic format in criminal cases in all regions of the country.
These measures allow employees conducting criminal proceedings to appoint a lawyer, make a decision on ensuring the participation of a defense lawyer to a suspect and a decision on paying for legal assistance related to the defense of a suspect within the framework of the GGYUP in an automated mode, which will increase the efficiency of spending budget funds.
Through the "E-zan komegi" IP, lawyers and legal consultants are provided with modern tools for the prompt provision of legal assistance to the population in electronic format,including online.
In addition, in the future, it is planned to automate the processes in the framework of civil proceedings.
Together, the automation of the activities of lawyers and legal consultants will eliminate unnecessary administrative barriers, which directly affects the quality of legal assistance provided to citizens.
Thus, one of the ways to implement the constitutional right of citizens to receive qualified legal assistance, including on a free basis, will be comprehensively developed.
The organization and provision of legal assistance and legal advocacy is one of the important tasks assigned to the judicial authorities.
In this regard, the development of a mechanism for providing qualified legal assistance is a priority goal in ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens.
Auliekol Interdistrict
Department of Justice