Constitutional Court Clarifies Admissibility Requirements for Citizens’ Applications for Constitutional Review

The Constitutional Court considered an application seeking review of the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy” governing the time limits for bankruptcy proceedings and the completion of the liquidation of a bankrupt entity.

The applicant argued that the contested provisions allowed bankruptcy proceedings to continue beyond the five-year period established by law, thereby violating his constitutional rights.

The Constitutional Court established that paragraph 1 of Article 84 of the Law had not been applied by the courts in the applicant’s case. At the same time, a necessary condition for the admissibility of a citizen’s application for constitutional review is that the contested provision must have been applied by a court in a specific case directly affecting the applicant’s rights and freedoms. With regard to paragraph 1 of Article 112 of the Law, the applicant failed to provide sufficient legal justification demonstrating its incompatibility with the Constitution.

In the absence of the admissibility requirements established by law, the application was not admitted for constitutional proceedings.