The provision on liability for illegal financial activities has been brought into line with the Constitution

The provision on liability for illegal financial activities has been brought into line with the Constitution

Теlegram CС - https://t.me/consot_kz

 

The Constitutional Court, in its normative ruling No. 31-NP of October 3, 2023 (https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/ksrk/documents/details/529816) stated that the disposition of Article 214 of the Criminal Code draws the attention of the legislator to its further legislative improvement. It is unnecessarily cluttered with several alternative acts related to illegal entrepreneurial activity, banking activity (banking operations), microfinance, and collection activities, which can be differentiated in separate provisions of the Criminal Code. This legislative approach creates certain difficulties in law enforcement practice and poses a risk of violating constitutional human rights.

This decision was implemented within the framework of the Law of July 16, 2025, “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Optimizing the Criminal Legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan” https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=38302814&pos=1;-16#pos=1;%20-16. In particular, Article 214 of the Criminal Code no longer mentions illegal banking, microfinance, and debt collection activities, while separate Articles 214-1 and 214-2 have been introduced, establishing criminal liability for illegal activities in these areas with clarified definitions of crimes and gradations of punishment.

In addition, the Constitutional Court pointed out in its ruling that there was a discrepancy between the definition of significant damage caused to a citizen and the definition of a significant amount in the turnover of excisable goods: the Code of Administrative Offenses sets a threshold of up to 1,000 MCI, while the Criminal Code sets a threshold of 2,000 MCI and above.

In this regard, the Law of January 10, 2025, “On Amendments and Additions to the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses” https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=33424342 introduced amendments to Article 153 of the Code of Administrative Offenses regarding the definition of major damage and significant amount.