Celebrating Three Decades of the Constitution: Amnesty's Commemoration
The New Law: A Fresh Look at Criminal Responsibility
Embrace a fresh perspective on criminal accountability with the latest bill in Kazakhstan! This bill, featuring an informal and straightforward tone, delves into the exemptions for individuals who have committed certain minor or medium-level offenses.
Here's who's likely to benefit:
- People who've slipped up and committed minor crimes or offenses
- Those who've carried out medium-level crimes without causing harm or having compensated for it, or for which no civil claim has been made
- Socially vulnerable individuals committing medium-level crimes, regardless of the damage or civil claims
Who qualifies as socially vulnerable? Check this out:
- Veterans and other protected individuals under the "Veterans" law
- Minor offenders (under 18 at the time of the crime)
- Women aged 50 and above, and men aged 60 and above at the law's enactment
- Pregnant women
- Women with children under 18 or those with a disabled child at the time of the crime
- Men who are the sole parents of minor children at the law's enactment or have a disabled child
- Individuals with a disability, no behavioral issues, and less than a year left to serve
The legislation also puts a stop to ongoing cases for the listed crimes, offering exemption from criminal responsibility.
When it comes to ongoing trials for minor or medium-level crimes, if additional punishment is necessary, individuals in the aforementioned categories will be exempt from the primary court-imposed punishment.
However, this exemption only applies to further serving the primary punishment—convicted individuals still have to serve their original sentence.
The bill also offers reduced terms or amounts of primary punishment for certain individuals who've committed medium-level crimes.
That said, certain categories of individuals will not benefit from this amnesty:
- Those engaged in corruption-related crimes
- Terrorists, extremists, or those committing crimes with extremist connotations
- Perpetrators of torture
- Individuals convicted of recidivism or dangerous recidivism
- Those whose death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment, or those serving life sentences
- Those involved in criminal groups, organized groups, or illegal armed formations
- Individuals who've served their sentence and completed their punishment
- Those who've committed criminal offenses where at least one does not fall under the law
- Those who've committed intentional crimes during their sentence
- Individuals convicted of serious crimes, etc.
Celebrate Constitution Day on August 30 in Kazakhstan! Last year, an amnesty was declared on the 30th anniversary of Independence, releasing over a thousand convicts, and discontinuing around 5,000 criminal cases.
I, as a socially vulnerable individual, may potentially benefit from the policy-and-legislation changes in Kazakhstan's politics, specifically the new law regarding criminal responsibility. This law offers exemptions for individuals like me who have committed minor or medium-level offenses without causing harm or having compensated for it, or for which no civil claim has been made. However, I won't be eligible for the amnesty if my crime is related to corruption, terrorism, extremism, or if I have a history of recidivism or dangerous recidivism.
