Pilot project for transferring certain types of criminal cases expertise to competitive environment launched in Kazakhstan — Ministry of Justice

A press conference was held in the Central Communications Service under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on reforms in the field of forensic expertise. Minister of Justice Marat Beketayev answered journalists’ questions.

According to the head of the Ministry of Justice, since gaining independence, the republic has taken cardinal steps in the field of reforming the judicial procedure and the system of law enforcement agencies, including the forensic expert system.

Thus, a unified forensic expert service has been formed, and the Republican Chamber of Forensic Experts has been created.

“The measures taken to develop this area ensured the independence of the forensic expert system, contributed to an increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of forensic expert services,” the minister said.

First. Preparation of competitive human resources.

Within the framework of the Bolashak program, 55 were trained in Great Britain, and 16 forensic experts are continuing their training.

Over 200 experts improved their qualifications in Russia, USA, UAE, Great Britain, Poland, Turkey.

A training center for training, retraining and advanced training of experts has been created.

Today, forensic experts, law enforcement officers, as well as experts from abroad are trained on the basis of the Kazakhstani school for training expert personnel.

Second. Increase in wages.

Measures have been taken to increase wages from 30 to 45% in the form of additional payments for harmful working conditions to medical workers of the forensic examination bodies.

"At the same time, in the implementation of the instructions of the Head of State, the issue of increasing the wages of this category of persons is being worked out, with an increase by 2023 up to 2.5 times, depending on the work performed," he added.

In order to improve social conditions, a system for assessing the results of the work of employees on a factor-point scale was introduced.

Third. Development of a competitive environment.

As Marat Beketayev noted, the issue of the formation of private expert activity and the creation of conditions for the formation of a competitive expert environment requires special close attention and specific solutions.

“Together with the Supreme Court, a pilot project was carried out at the Forensic Science Institutes of the cities of Nur-Sultan and Almaty on the appointment by the courts of primary forensic construction, commodity and economic expertise in civil cases to private forensic experts. Within the framework of a joint order with the General Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Shymkent, Kostanay and Pavlodar regions, a pilot project has been launched to transfer certain types of expertise in criminal cases to a competitive environment,” the minister said.

According to him, the pilot showed a positive result. In particular, the timeframes for the production of examinations have been reduced and the workload on state experts has been reduced. Work in this direction will be continued by increasing the number of types of expertise and regions of the republic.

Fourth. Logistics support.

The material and technical base of the forensic examination bodies has been updated by 70%, new modern functional laboratory instruments and equipment have been purchased, computer and office equipment is being updated in accordance with the wear rates.

“In Nur-Sultan, a typical building of the Institute of Forensic Expertise is under construction. In 2021-2025 construction of buildings is planned in 6 more regions of the republic,” Beketayev said.

Fifth. Automation of forensic activities.

The information system E-Saraptama has been developed.

Work has been carried out to integrate it with the information systems Turelik, E-criminal case and E-licensing.

The launch into commercial operation and its replication is planned for the current year.

Sixth. Improvement of legislation.

“Currently, the Majilis is considering a draft of amendments to the legislation on the issues of forensic expert activity, initiated by a deputy of the Majilis of the Parliament. The adoption of the bill will create competition in the forensic expertise market, ensure the transparency of the activities of private forensic experts, systematic quality control, and optimize the activities of the forensic examination bodies,” Beketayev said.

Work on further improvement and strengthening of the institution of forensic expertise will continue.

Answering journalists' questions about the requirements for special education of forensic medical experts, the head of the Ministry of Justice Beketayev said that in order to obtain a license, a forensic expert must pass a qualification exam, as well as constantly improve his qualifications. These requirements ensure the quality of forensic examinations by both state and private forensic experts, both in the field of medical forensic examination and in the field of general forensic examination.

As for the bill on amendments and additions in matters of advocacy and legal assistance, the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted that work on the bill began at the end of 2019, the MPs initiated it at the beginning of this year. During this time, dozens of meetings of the working groups were held, which were held openly, transparently, in an online format. Certain aspects of the bill were discussed in the media.

“The main goal of this bill is to protect the interests of clients of lawyers and legal advisers, that is, to protect the interests of ordinary citizens. Every citizen of Kazakhstan has a constitutional right to quality legal aid and this bill offers mechanisms that will ensure the quality of legal aid. It is about the development of self-regulation,” Beketayev said.

The choice in favor of self-regulation was made on the basis of in-depth analysis and experience of developed countries.

Speaking about the requirements for the quality provision of services by lawyers, Marat Beketayev noted that before entering the profession, lawyers pass qualification exams. Now it is organized on the basis of the departments of justice.

According to the Minister of Justice, in developed countries, such exams are organized on the basis of the bar association — they are more flexible and efficient, respond more quickly to the needs of society, and can quickly change questions in exams and tests.

“In general, the quality of control at the entrance to the profession is better organized in the collegia. Kazakhstan is striving and preparing for this. In the meantime, the collegiums in the republic are not ready to conduct such exams for many reasons, primarily due to the lack of material and technical base and personnel who would develop these issues,” he added.

In addition, the head of the Ministry of Justice believes that professional lawyers need to periodically take advanced training courses, because laws and living conditions are changing. With the development of technology, legislation, lawyers must improve their knowledge.

On average, in the republic, about a thousand cases on the payment of alimony to disabled parents by children are processed by bailiffs. Most of them are paid properly on time.

“Slightly more than 800 writs of execution, when alimony is collected from children in favor of parents. The amount of alimony is determined by the court in accordance with the Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ‘On Marriage and Family’.The court takes into account, first of all, the number of children, the circumstances in the families of these children, their income. After evaluating these criteria, the judge determines the amount of alimony in order to adequately ensure the parents and the alimony is recovered from all children,” said the minister.

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