Application of the Law in Kazakhstan (Essay Sample)

Application of the law in Kazakhstan Author Institution Date Application of the law in Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Law is influenced by Sharia (Islamic) law and Roman law. The latter remains to be the overarching influence with socialist principles and Soviet Law particularly in theory and practice (Kembayev, 2012). The country's laws are now mostly codified and have a supreme law as well. This is in the form of the constitution of the country which was enacted in 28th January, 1993 through an all country referendum (Kembayev, 2012). This paper examines the application of criminal, contract and tort law in Kazakhstan with the constitution as the base. Criminal law in Kazakhstan is codified in the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code the enforcement of the law both enacted in 1997 (Kembayev, 2012). The law therefore ensures that no arbitrary actions are to be taken by the police in regards to criminal law. Although the law provides for justice and fairness, there has been an outcry by human rights activists due to the poor treatment of prisoners by the police and the failure to apply due process (Kembayev, 2012). This may be credited to the understaffing of the police but is a problem that needs to be resolved. Contract law is not recognized as an independent branch of law in Kazakhstan. It forms part of the civil law in the country and its provisions are defined in the General and Special Part of the Civil Code and the Civil Procedure Code, both enacted in 1994 (Kembayev and Burke, 2010). It governs the relations of the people as equals before the law in transactions to do with property. This legislation may not encompass all contractual relations hence other acts are enacted to govern other specific types of business transactions (Kembayev & Burke, 2010). This means that laissez faire is practiced in Kazakhstan, since people must enter the contracts at will, and they must be in writing, even when the State is a contracting party. Compensation for injuries (tort law) is under the non-contractual obligations in the Civil Code provisions. This is in section ...