Information regarding the regulatory resolution of the Constitutional Court
(№ 17 dated 22 May 2023)
The Constitutional Court considered the petition of the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration on the interpretation of paragraphs 2 and 4 of the operative part of the normative resolution of the Constitutional Council of 5 November 2009 № 6 (hereinafter – the CC NR) in the context of the provisions of the Draft Protocol on Amendments to the Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union of 29 May 2014 concerning the special mechanism in conducting investigations and taking decisions on the application or non-application of special protective, anti-dumping and countervailing measures (hereinafter - the draft Protocol).
In interpreting the noted the CC NR in relation to the subject matter of the application, the Constitutional Court additionally explained the following: in accordance with the Treaty on the Customs Union Commission of 6 October 2007, the decisions of this Commission, which were binding on the Parties, cannot be recognised as binding on Kazakhstan, violating the provisions of paragraph 2 of Article 2 and paragraph 2 of Article 91 of the Constitution that the sovereignty of the Republic extends to its entire territory, and the inadmissibility of changing the unitarity and territorial integrity of the State and the form of government of the Republic established by the Constitution. In addition, in the final decision, which is the subject of interpretation, it is stated that the procedure for adopting a decision of an international organisation or its body binding on Kazakhstan must provide legal guarantees excluding the possibility of distorting the will of the people of Kazakhstan inherent in the international treaty, expressed in decisions adopted by the national referendum, as well as in acts of the President and Parliament of the Republic at the conclusion and ratification of the treaty.
The Constitutional Court held that decisions of international organisations and their bodies, to which the Republic of Kazakhstan is a party, adopted and entered into force without taking into account national interests and observance of the above conditions, including decisions of the EEC Collegium put into effect in accordance with the procedure established by the draft Protocol, cannot be binding on the Republic, have the properties of a ratified international treaty and, accordingly, have priority over the laws of Kazakhstan. It is not allowed to conclude international treaties that do not correspond to the national interests of the Republic of Kazakhstan, that may damage national security or lead to the loss of independence, that narrow the scope of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Kazakhstan.