Deputies of the Lower Chamber of the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved the amendments, which transfer libel from the category of criminal cases to administrative ones.
According to the deputy Asylbek Smagulov, this transfer, in fact, implying the decriminalization of libel, was carried out exclusively at the initiative of members of the Parliament.
“Defamation goes into the Code of administrative offenses. This is consistent with international experience, that is, the recommendations of the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan,” Smagulov explained at the plenary session of the Chamber during the discussion of the draft law “On amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on enforcement proceedings”.
The amendments were approved by deputies of the Lower Chamber. The bill was submitted to the Upper Chamber of the Parliament [the Senate]. If the Senate approves them, the bill will be signed by the President of Kazakhstan and only after that it will enter into force.
Recall that initially the idea of decriminalizing the article “Libel” was put forward by the head of state, Kasym-Zhomart Tokaev.
“I have decided to decriminalize the article “Libel” of the Criminal Code and transfer it to the Administrative Code,” Tokaev said on December 20, 2019.
On March 2, 2020, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Askar Mamin, confirmed that the article “Libel” would be transferred to the Administrative Code.
“Analysis of the norms showed that administrative legislation allows to fully stop the offenses related to slander, to collect evidence by interviewing witnesses, victims, seizing documents, screening, appointing examinations, and so on. It is proposed to empower officials of internal affairs bodies with the right to draw up protocols, and judges of specialized district and equivalent administrative courts to give power to review cases,” said the Prime Minister.
He also added that criminal libel cases begin on the complaint of the victim and are subject to termination in case of reconciliation.
“The prosecutor can start proceedings in these cases in the absence of a complaint if the act affects the interests of a person who is in a helpless or dependent state, or for other reasons unable to independently avail himself/herself of rights. In this regard, it is suggested that, within the framework of the legislation on administrative offenses, it is also possible to initiate libel cases on the complaint of the victim and terminate them in case of reconciliation,” Mamin explained.
Meanwhile, on March 3, the International Foundation for the Protection of Freedom of Speech “Adil Soz” sent an open letter to the President of the country, stating that the bill proposed by the Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan on introducing amendments to the Code of administrative offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of liability for defamation, in fact, instead of decriminalizing, it proposes even more severe measures that actually infringe on the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech.
“As the law defines, dignity is an internal self-esteem by a person of his/her own qualities; honor is a public assessment of a person, a measure of his/her spiritual and social qualities, in addition, in the perception of the holder of honor. Thus, the diminution of the honor and dignity of a person is a purely individual concept. Currently, both criminal and civil proceedings for the protection of such subjective categories as honor and dignity are conducted solely at the request of the victim or a person who considers himself/herself to be such. The perpetrator, by decision of the judge, pays the victim a certain amount of compensation for moral damage. The bill makes this type of offense public-private, introduces administrative protocols and gives the right to compile them to the internal affairs bodies. The bill offers very large amounts of fines, but doesn’t provide for any compensation for non-pecuniary damage to the victim. It is proposed to apply state coercion measures to private disputes of persons without grounds, which include administrative detention, forced delivery, etc. We believe that the resolution of private disputes on the protection of honor and dignity cannot be conducted administratively, using state coercion measures. We ask you to entrust the development of the bill on the decriminalization of defamation to the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan in order to include this type of offense in the Civil Code,” the report said.
On the same day, the Foundation “Adil Soz” shocked the public with the news that the bill on libel, which was publicly available on the Open Legal Acts portal, was disappeared.
“Yesterday it was possible to download the whole package of documents to the draft law “On introducing amendments to the Code of administrative offenses of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of liability for defamation” developed by the Prosecutor General’s office. Today the portal reports, “We could not find the requested page.” Why was it disappeared? Did the authors feel ashamed of their suggestions?” the Foundation said in its statement.
And today, when it became known that the deputies approved the amendments, the head of the Foundation “Adil Soz”, Tamara Kaleeva, wrote on social networks her attitude to what is happening.
“It is a pity that not a single deputy was ever accused of libel. Then they would have felt on their own back what it was like to face the prospect of imprisonment, a gigantic fine or a shameful arrest. Then they would at least understand a little that verbal conflicts need to be resolved in civil disputes, and not under prosecutorial supervision. And where, finally, is the draft of the corresponding amendments to the Code of administrative offenses, for which they so unanimously voted? That it is being hidden from society is already obvious. And from the deputies, too? Or did they show them? Or are they used to a priori trusting the developers of the General Prosecutor’s office?” Kaleeva asks rhetorical questions.
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