HOW TO ACHIEVE MAXIMUM TRANSPARENCY AT THE PRE-TRIAL INVESTIGATION STAGE?
Only the maximum transparency of the pre-trial investigation can become an effective tool for combating such offenses as coercion to testify. And in achieving such transparency, the large-scale digitalization of pre-trial investigation can provide due assistance.
Within the framework of the "Digital Kazakhstan" program, aimed at improving standards of living of every resident of the country through the use of digital technologies, work has been carried out on the digitalization of legal proceedings.
Full audio and video recording of all court proceedings, mobile video conferencing with courts (smartphones, tablets, laptops) with iOS and Android operating systems have been introduced, allowing people to remotely participate in court sessions, even while abroad. This made it possible to ensure the smooth operation of court sessions during the pandemic.
As for the pre-trial investigation, according to the information received in 2020, only 19% of the total number of criminal cases were investigated electronically. The intensification of the modernization of the criminal process is expected by 2025 according to the Strategic Development Plan of Kazakhstan.
As noted in the Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights for 2020, special attention should be paid to audio and video recording of all investigative actions, especially during interrogation.
Thus, a protocol that reflects the course and results of interrogations can be written by hand, made by the typewritten or computer-based method. To ensure the completeness of the protocol, shorthand, filming, sound and video recording or other scientific and technical means can be used. The shorthand record, audio, and video recording materials or other information carriers are attached to the protocol and stored in the case file.
Thus, to date, the use of audio and video recording tools during investigative actions (including interrogation) is not mandatory.
"In our opinion, such a provision of the law creates conditions for a person against whom pressure was exerted to give confessions or false testimony to have no opportunity to present proof of the illegality of actions on the part of officials. This, in turn, leads to a low percentage of bringing to justice officials guilty of committing such illegal actions as forcing to testify at the stage of pre-trial investigation", the Commissioner's report notes.
Thus, according to the statistics of the Department of the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in 2020, no criminal cases were initiated under Article 415 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Coercion to testify), the investigation was conducted on merely 2 criminal cases that were in production in the reporting period.
In this regard, it seems appropriate to intensify the digitalization process: along with the judicial system, it is necessary to pay equal attention to the digitalization of the pre-trial investigation stage, supply the relevant authorities with the necessary equipment for audio and video recording of all investigative actions.
About the improvement of national legislation, it is worth noting the need to make appropriate changes to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan. "The procedure for audio and video recording of all investigative actions should be mandatory. This is a guarantee of the protection of human rights during the investigation. In particular, the relevant provision should be fixed within the framework of Article 199 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan", said the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Republic of Kazakhstan Elvira Azimova.
Read the full text of the report on our official website: https://www.gov.kz/.../ombudsman/documents/details/166034...