Information regarding the regulatory resolution of the Constitutional Court
(№ 52 of 9 October 2024)
The Constitutional Court considered the citizen's appeal for verification of compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, part two and paragraph two of part three of Article 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter - CPC).
According to these norms of the CPC, if a criminal offence is initiated in the place of operation of one court and completed in the place of operation of another court, the relevant criminal case is subject to the jurisdiction of the court at the place of completion of the investigation. At the same time, the place of completion of the investigation is determined by the place where the relevant procedural document is drawn up (the report on the completion of the pre-trial investigation, the protocol of the prosecution, the protocol of the accelerated pre-trial investigation, the protocol on criminal misconduct) or the decision is made to send the case to court for the application of compulsory medical measures.
According to the applicant, these rules allow the court to change the territorial jurisdiction at its own discretion (apply discretion), which does not comply with subparagraph 3) of paragraph 3 of Article 77 of the Constitution that ‘no one without his consent may change the jurisdiction provided for him by law’.
Following the results of the verification, the Constitutional Court concluded that these norms of the CPC were in conformity with the Constitution. In his final decision, he pointed out that subparagraph 3) of paragraph 3 of Article 77 of the Constitution should be understood in such a way that any change in the jurisdiction provided for by law is possible only with the consent of the person whose case is being considered by the court. The Constitution does not establish the types of jurisdiction of criminal cases and refers the legal regulation of this issue to the sphere of legislative regulation, which is within the competence of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The Constitutional Court noted that the determination of territorial jurisdiction at the level of law does not directly limit the constitutional rights of everyone to defend their rights by all means not contrary to the law, judicial protection of their rights and freedoms, equality of all before the law and the court.
At the same time, considering verification results, the Constitutional Court also recommended the Government to consider further improvement of the criminal procedural legislation, taking into account the legal positions expressed by the Court.