KAZAKHSTAN WAY: CONSTITUTIONALISM, PERSON, PEACE ANDR PROSPERITY UDC 342 LBC 67.400.1 К 26 Published under the program «Improving the Competitiveness of the Field of Culture and Art, Preserving, Studying and Popularizing Kazakhstan’s Cultural Heritage and Improving the Effectiveness of Archives Implementation», under the sub-program «Acquisition, Publication, and Dissemination of Socially Important Literature» of the Language Policy Committee of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan. К 26 Kazakhstan way: constitutionalism, person, peace and prosperity / Collection of articles. Executive editor and author of the introduction Doctor of law, professor K.A. Mami – Nur-Sultan, 2020 – 384 p. ISBN 978-601-7918-29-3 Proposed by the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy N.A. Nazarbayev and adopted by the people of Kazakhstan, the current Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan opened the way for truly epoch- making changes in the country’s modern history. They were accompanied by fundamental changes in the political, economic, cultural and other spheres, modernization of the spiritual life of society and revision of the system of values. Being the embodiment of the will of the people, the Constitution over the years has become a powerful political and legal tool for consolidating the people of Kazakhstan into a Single Nation. This book contains articles reflecting the assessment by foreign experts of the role and significance of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the construction of modern Kazakhstan statehood, the processes of approval of the country’s standards of democracy, the principles of the rule of law and constitutionalism. The author’s team includes representatives of authoritative international organizations, heads of constitutional control bodies, well-known foreign state and public figures, and world-famous scientists. The publication will be useful for those involved in politics, legislation and law enforcement, legal practitioners, scientists and the general public. UDC 342 LBC 67.400.1 ISBN 978-601-7918-29-3 © Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2020 © LLP Delovoi Mir Astana, 2020 © All rights reserved DEDICATED TO THE TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN 4 KAZAKHSTAN WAY: CONSTITUTIONALISM, PERSON, PEACE AND PROSPERITY INTRODUCTION n August 30, 2020 the 25th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan is celebrated. The anniversary of the basic legal document – is the auspicious event in the life of the people of Kazakhstan. OThe Constitution, having finally determined the priorities and the form of the sovereign Kazakhstan, having incorporated the best legal traditions of the country and universal values, became a foundation creating new statehood, peace and confident upstream growth. The initiated by the First President of the Republic – Elbasy N.A. Nazarbayev and adopted by the people of Kazakhstan at the republican referendum, Constitution laid the legal basis for the comprehensive and consistent establishment of the Republic of Kazakhstan as the democratic, secular, legal and social state, the highest values of which are a person, his rights and freedoms. A quarter of a century in accordance with long-term policy documents huge work has been made on unleashing the potential of the Basic Law in all spheres of life, which have been reformed and are developing in the light of modern trends. As a result, the state, society, and every citizen of the country have changed. The high tempos of development, modernization of the system of the state management, globalization, the modern challenges, entailing the transformation in economy, politics, ideology, social sphere and other factors caused the conduction in Kazakhstan the constitutional reforms in 1998, 2007, 2017. INTRODUCTION 5 Each of them opened a new logical stage on the path of consistent development of society and state, creating a political and legal basis for comprehensive transformations in order to achieve the high goals set initially in the Strategy «Kazakhstan-2030», and after its implementation, in the Strategy «Kazakhstan-2050». The modern constitutional model of the Republic of Kazakhstan is based on progressive international experience in the development of constitutionalism, the establishment of the ideas of the rule of law, democratic governance and the protection of human and civil rights and freedoms. The regular stage in the evolution of Kazakhstan constitutionalism began in 2019. In 2019 the significant events took place in the Republic. The first process of smooth transmission of the supreme power has been made, the extraordinary presidential elections, on the results of which K. Tokayev has been elected a President of the Republic of Kazakhstan were hold. The transmission of the powers of the President of the state, amendments to the Constitution and the election of a new President of the state took place in a strict accordance with the requirements of the Constitution and Constitutional law of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan». At present, the huge work is being accomplished on transformation of the political system, further democratization of the society, improving of the law-enforcement system and the principles of state management. By word and deed the power formula of the Head of state is being implemented gradually: strong plenipotentiary President, influential capable Parliament and accountable to people Government. Kazakhstan continues to purposefully pursue the course of faithful adherence to the letter and spirit of the Basic Law, which was declared at the dawn of independence. The activities of the Constitutional Council also contribute to improving the effectiveness of such state policy, the efforts of which are aimed at ensuring the strict implementation of the creative potential and requirements of the Basic Law in the current law and practice of its implementation. All this allows us to speak about the stability and irreversibility of the process of formation of a strong legal state in Kazakhstan, which is firmly set on the path of respect for individual rights and freedoms, the supremacy of the Constitution, and solving the most important issues of public life by democratic methods. The results achieved are positively evaluated both within the country and abroad. The international community perceives Kazakhstan as an equal, responsible and reliable partner, whose opinion is listened to at the highest level. The presidency of Kazakhstan in the United Nations Security Council, the election of the country’s Constitutional Council as the Chairman of the Eurasian Association of constitutional control bodies and the Association of Asian constitutional courts and equivalent institutions are clear evidence. This book includes the opinions and judgements of the eminent foreign state and public figures, and also acknowledged foreign scientists about the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and practice of its implementation, the extent of their correspondence to the universal international standards and, of course, their recommendations on actual issues of the further evolution of the national legal system. The present publication continues the book «Kazakhstan trend: from totalitarianism to democratic and legal state (view from the outside)». We express gratitude to each of the authors for the presented articles, comments and feedbacks, which make a major contribution to development of the world constitutionalism. К.Mami, The Chairman of the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan I PUBLIC FIGURES AND REPRESENTATIVES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 8 KAZAKHSTAN WAY: CONSTITUTIONALISM, PERSON, PEACE AND PROSPERITY Lord WOOLF Chairman of the Court of the «Astana» International Financial Center WHEN INTRODUCING CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE RECOGNISING THE NEED TO CATER FOR COMPLYING WITH THE RULE OF LAW am grateful to contribute a short article for this publication which is being published to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. I am pleased to do this because for nearly three years now I have been engaged together with Christopher Campbell-HoltI to oversee the establishment of a Common Law Court in Nur-Sultan. That court has now been created and it is ready to play its allocated role as a dispute resolution centre primarily for the newly established Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). It is partnered by the International Arbitration Centre (IAC). I am now Chief Justice of the Court and Barbara Dohmann, QC is the Chairman of the IAC. Christopher Campbell Holt is the PUBLIC FIGURES AND REPRESENTATIVES OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 9 Chief Executive and Registrar of both bodies. Although both bodies are independent of each other, they have a common purpose in helping to ensure justice for those who are involved in or with the AIFC as required by the rule of law. This is fulfilling the vision of the First President, His Excellency, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Governor, Dr. Kairat Kelimbetov, has overall responsibility for the whole project and in his Foreword to “A Vision of the AIFC Court” he admirably summarises its objectives in the following paragraphs: “Over the past years the Republic of Kazakhstan has engaged in numerous reforms aimed at diversification of the national economy and encouragement of foreign direct investments. A key driving role in constant institutional improvement and implementation