Constitutional Court announces message on the state of constitutional legality in the country

Chairperson of the Constitutional Court Elvira Azimova at a joint session of the Chambers of the Parliament presented the message of the Constitutional Court on the state of constitutional legality in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the results of generalisation of the practice of constitutional proceedings for 2023.
In her speech, Azimova said that last year the constitutional control body received more than five thousand appeals from citizens.
At the same time, a significant number of citizens' appeals contained requests for the cancellation or review of court decisions in specific cases, as well as for verification of the legality of the actions of individual law enforcement officers, which falls within the exclusive competence of the State bodies themselves and the courts.
Azimova stressed that often citizens could not use legal instruments in a timely manner due to lack of awareness about the existing human rights institutions or lack of trust in them. In this context, the Government and the authorised state bodies have drawn attention to the advisability of intensifying law expository work among citizens about all existing legal mechanisms for the protection of their rights within their competence, and to ensure regular monitoring of the quality of this activity.
Elvira Azimova also reported that in 2023, in 7 decisions of the Constitutional Court recognised unconstitutional norms of laws and in 12 decisions gave a new interpretation of existing norms in accordance with the Constitution.
In 2023, the Constitutional Court reviewed certain provisions of the constitutional laws "On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan" and "On the Judicial System and the Status of Judges of the Republic of Kazakhstan"; the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Criminal Executive Code, the Labour Code, the Code of Administrative Offences, the Code of Administrative Procedure, the Code on Taxes and Other Compulsory Payments to the Budget (Tax Code), the Civil Code; the laws on civil service in the Republic of Kazakhstan, on military service and the status of military personnel, on combating corruption, and certain normative decisions of the Supreme Court.
Chairperson of the Constitutional Court Elvira Azimova elaborated on the legal positions and recommendations of the Constitutional Court set out in the normative rulings and drew the deputies' attention to the concrete measures needed to strengthen control over ensuring constitutional legality in the country.