Kazakhstan: about $ 3 million was accumulated in the Fund of victims’ compensation
As of April 1, 2021, there were $ 2,970,797 on the accounts of Kazakhstan’s Fund of victim’s compensation. Such data are published in the report of the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan.
It should be noted that the law “On the Fund of victim’s compensation” was adopted in Kazakhstan in January 2018. Compensation payments to victims from the Fund began on July 1, 2020. It should be clarified here that the two-year interval between the adoption of the law and the first payments was made for the purpose, so that the Fund could accumulate funds for further payments.
Compensations are made in the form of a one-time payment in the amount of 30 to 50 monthly calculation indices (MCI), depending on the category of the offense committed against the recipient. For 2021, the MCI is set at $ 6.7.
According to the law, compensation payments are provided for 124 offenses of 46 articles of the Criminal Code committed after July 1, 2020.
Claimants to payments can be:
– minors who are victims of sexual violence; victims of crimes related to human trafficking and torture (compensation is provided in the amount of 30 MCI = approximately $ 200);
– persons who have suffered serious harm to their health, or are infected with HIV / AIDS (compensation will be 40 MCI = about $ 270);
– persons endowed with the rights of the victim, in the event of the death of the victim (compensation will be 50 MCI = $ 335).
The grounds for refusal to ensure payment of compensation are: missing the deadline for submitting an application; submission of inaccurate documents; compensation by the guilty person in full for the harm caused to the victim; the decision of the authority, conducting the criminal procedure, to terminate the participation of the person as a victim.
Foreigners and stateless persons have also a right to compensation from the moment they are recognized as victims.
As for the sources of funds for the Fund, then, first of all, this is a forced payment, collected by the court from all, without exception, the guilty persons in respect of whom the conviction of the court took place. The amount of the enforcement is from 5 to 30 MCI, depending on the severity of the crime. In addition, the Fund is also formed at the expense of penalties imposed by the court for procedural violations, as well as at the expense of the amounts withheld from convicts who are serving sentences in the form of correctional labor.
It should be also noted that the Prosecutor General’s Office of Kazakhstan, after the adoption of the law, stated that the annual amount of income to the Fund would be more than $ 2 million. Thus, over 2 years, more than $ 4 million should have accumulated on the Fund’s accounts. However, in the first year of the Fund’s existence, according to the Ministry of Finance, it received only $ 1.2 million. It turns out that either the Prosecutor General’s Office made a mistake with the calculations, or the prosecution authorities don’t comply with the special order of the Prosecutor General on strict observance of the requirements of the law regarding the collection of funds to the Fund.
