History of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan
06.02.2009
History of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Kazakh courts date back to ancient times when folklore and traditions and religious rules performed the function of the laws in the Kazakh steppe. On a vast area stretching from the Black Sea to the Altai mountains one after another rose and fell the ancient states of Sakhs, Gunns, Yusuns, Turks, Karluks which had their own laws the evidence of which can be found in a variety of sources on the State and the law. This has been convincingly proved by L. Gumilev, a wonderful scientist and a great connoisseur of Eurasian issues, in his scientific paper on ancient Turks.
One of the founders of the law codes in the Kazakh khanate was the outstanding diplomat and statesman, Maiki bi, the adviser of Chingiskhan. The consolidation of the state is also associated with the name of Kasym khan, the son of Az Zhanibek khan. Under his rule the legal norms and traditions of that time were consolidated into a book called «The Truth of Kasym khan». A noticeable contribution to the development of the legal system of the Kazakh society was also made by Esim khan who considerably toughened the military laws and raised the level of responsibility of Kazakh warriors which was necessary for defence from the attacks of the aggressive Joungars. At the end of XVII Az Tauke, Tole bi, Kazbek bi, Aiteke bi created the «Zheti Zhargi», which became the code of laws and of court proceedings. However, as this code has reached us only in verbal form, the society did not regard it as official legislation. However, having been polished by many generations of users in line with the Kazakh traditions, those laws played an important role and did a lot of good to the Kazakh people.
The last quarter of the 17th century became an important historical turning point in the establishment of the official court system in Kazakhstan. At that time Kazakhs became Russian subjects and practically lost their right to self-determination: Bi's courts co-existed with Russian laws. On the 23rd of December 1786 Ekaterina II issued a decree on establishing a border court in Kyrgyz (Kazakh) steppe pursuant to the proposal of Igelstrom, the governor-general of Orenburg. The heads of communities were appointed chairmen of the local Kazakh courts. Mullahs served as court secretaries. Six Kazakh foremen formed the body of counsellors. Two Tartars and two Russians served as controllers. This is how the official judiciary system was introduced into the life of the Kazakh people.
In 1918 – 1920 at the height of the civil war some areas of Kazakhstan were held by the White Guard who cancelled the revolutionary tribunals. In order to restore the tribunals, on 12 April 1919 the Kazakh military-revolutionary committee issued the Regulations of the revolutionary tribunals, and on 31 December 1922 a decree was signed on the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This brought about a drastic change in the structure of the court system. At the beginning of 1923 the All-Union Central Executive Committee issued the decrees on the establishment of the supreme courts in the republics. Pursuant to that decree, on 10 April 1923, the RSFSR Supreme Court issued decree No. 31, in which paragraph 8 provided as follows: «… it is decreed to establish the administration of Turkestan branch to supervise a staff of 57 persons of the Turkestan branch of the Supreme Court established pursuant to the resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Court of 17 March of this year.» On 11 April of the same year the All-Union Central Executive Committee issued a resolution on the establishment of the Supreme court of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) region of the RSFSR. Below you can read the full text of that resolution No. 0268 signed by M. Kalinin, the secretary of the All-Union Central Executive Committee, and by secretary T. Safronov (On the status of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court»:
"1. The branch of the Kyrgyz Supreme court is comprised of: a) the presidium; b) the appellate board of judges for criminal cases; c) the board of judges for criminal cases.
2. The Presidium of the Supreme Court: chairman of the branch; chairmen of the appellate panels of judges for criminal cases and for judicial matters.
3. The board of judges:
a) determines and distributes the duties of the judges of the Supreme Court of the branch;
b) together with the specially created body of judges directly controls the work of the board of judges for judicial matters;
c) gathers information related to the branch of the Supreme Court, considers and approves the information of the board of judges;
d) at the request of the republican prosecutor appoints a special task force to inspect the work of the regional courts, receives and approves the results of such inspections;
e) at the personal request of the republican prosecutor and by way of accounting institutes production / disciplinary proceedings in respect of members of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz branch and in respect of chairmen and deputy chairmen of the regional courts.
Note: the deputy prosecutor of the Kyrgyz Republic at the RSFSR Supreme Court must necessarily be present at the sessions of the board of judges and shall have a deliberative vote.
4. The chairman of the branch of the Supreme Court is in charge of all the affairs of the branch. The chairman and his deputy may chair all the sessions of the board of judges for judicial matters.
5. The appellate board of judges for criminal cases acts in accordance with articles 437 – 447 of the RSFSR Criminal Procedural Code. This rule also fully applies to criminal cases handled by appellate divisions of the regional courts.
6. The court of the appellate board of judges shall be comprised of the chairman and of two other members (three persons).
7. The judicial matters related to Kyrgyz (Kazakh) Soviet Socialist Republic, in accordance with articles 448 – 449 of the RSFSR Criminal Procedural Code, shall be considered by the board of judges composed of the chairman and the deputy prosecutor of the judicial board of judges of the Supreme Court.
In accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 60 «Regulations regarding the composition of the court», the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court does not hold plenary sessions. This right belongs to the RSFSR Supreme Court.
9. No disciplinary board of judges shall be set up at the branch of the Supreme Court. The right to consider disciplinary matters is vested in the board of judges (article 4, par. «д»).
10. The appointment of members of the branch of the Supreme Court is carried out in accordance with article 58 «Provisions regarding the composition of the court».
The first chairman of the branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court established on 11 April 1923 was Nigmet Nurmakov, who in October 1921 was put at the head of the Supreme revolutionary tribunal. It should be said that Nigmet Nurmakov played an important role in the establishment of the Supreme Court, of the Justice Ministry and of the General Prosecutor's Office of Kazakhstan. After working as justice minister and as prosecutor general of Kazakh ASSR, at the end of 1924 N. Nurmakov was appointed chairman of the Soviet of People's Commissars of the republic (now that position would correspond to the position of the prime minister). In 1931 – 1937 he was in charge of the board of judges of the All-Union Central Executive Committee. In 1937 he fell victim to Stalin's repressions as many other innocent patriots.
In 1923 the approved list of staff members of the Supreme Court had 52 job positions. However, because of an acute shortage of qualified personnel, only 29 people worked there. The remaining archive documents are not enough to cover the activities of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court in more detail. However, we still have the report of the deputy chairman of the board of judges Mr. A. A. Golubtsov regarding the approval of a new board of judges pursuant to the order of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court of 18 August 1923 which tells us that on 1 January 1923 only one person, Mr. P.V. Alexeyev, was appointed as chairman of the court Members of the board of judges were appointed only after the board of judges of the Supreme Court issued its order of 19 August 1923. At that time I.I. Kochkin was temporarily appointed as chairman of the 3rd department of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) Supreme court. In addition to the above named members of the board of judges, T.A. Arystanbekov, M.N. Demme headed the board of judges during various periods of time. The year 1924 was the period of strengthening of the State power and the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court began to play a more active role in implementing the new norms of the socialist law system. All courts were required to strictly abide by the laws based on the class struggle policy and aimed at the eradication of «extraneous elements». On 1 March 1924 Tleuzhan Mukasev was appointed chairman of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court. He was a highly intellectual lawyer and a respected statesman. Unfortunately, he also became victim of the Stalinist repressions. In 1924 – 1925 Tleuzhan Mukashev worked as chairman of the Supreme Court, in 1936 – 1938 he was chairman of the Uralsk oblast court; after that he was appointed prosecutor of the Uralsk okrug and a member of the board of judges of the Kazakh Supreme Court; in 1937 he served as deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Kazakh SSR. We still have the report for the year 1924 on the work of the Kyrgyz (Kazakh) branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court in which the chairman, among other things, spoke about the role and competence of the branch. In his report he emphasised that the Supreme Court, being the supreme court body, must fully control the activities of other courts; has the right to consider appeals and protests against the judgements rendered in criminal cases by oblast and local people's courts; to consider any court cases by way of supervision, with the exception of the cases considered by the Military and Transport Tribunal and the cases of national significance considered by the special court of primary jurisdiction.
The presidium of the branch of the Supreme Court was comprised of the chairman and the appellate board of judges for criminal cases.
Its functions included the following:
а) allocation of responsibilities among members of the board of judges;
б) appointment of provincial judges;
в) institution of production / disciplinary proceedings;
г) consideration and approval of special orders and instructions.
In 1924 31 sessions of the presidium were held, they considered 77 various issues, including: 11 regarding organisational matters; 7 regarding the results of inspections of the provincial courts; 6 – regarding the decisions of the provincial courts on production / disciplinary matters; 4 – regarding production / disciplinary matters; 3 regarding internal circulars and various explanations for inspectors of provincial courts; 6 regarding expediting the conduct of proceedings in the Kazakh language; 3 regarding the closed cases of courts; 5 regarding the Supreme Court; 6 regarding appointment and dismissal of judges and other officers; 10 regarding organisational matters.
The most difficult problem was the hearing of court cases in the Kazakh language. Because of an acute shortage of national qualified personnel it was practically impossible to conduct proceedings in the Kazakh language. Some facts mentioned in the report by T. Mukashev merit attention. In 1924 the territory of the present-day Kazakhstan was divided into the following provinces and districts: Akmolinsk, Semipolatinsk, Aktyubinsk, Bokeyevsk, Kostanay, Orenburg, Uralsk provinces and Adaysk district. Then they were supplemented by Zhetysuyskaya and Syrdarinsskaya provinces and Karakalpaksk autonomous oblast. The courts on this vast area were controlled by the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court. To be more specific: the area of 2,845,275 square metres with the population of 6,216,672 citizens whose rights and freedoms were protected by 4 provincial, 3 regional and one (Adayskiy) district court (the district court had the rights of a regional court).
The year 1925 was an eventful year for Kazakhstan. Serious changes took place in the State system and in the territorial governance system. The main achievement of that period was that our people were again called Kazakhs. At one time Kazakhstan was divided pursuant to the decision of the Russian government. The southern oblasts were attached to Turkestan. In 1924 Zhetysuyskaya and Syrdariynskaya oblasts were returned to Kazakh ASSR. In those years the Kazakh branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court prepared a draft regulation changing the composition of the court. The reason for that was that the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court did not have a board of judges for civil cases. Civil cases were handled by provincial (oblast) courts, whereas appeals and complaints were made directly to the RSFSR Supreme Court. Thus the issue of the establishment of a board of judges for civil cases came to the fore.
On 1 June 1925 the Presidium of the All-Union Central Executive Committee passed a decision to establish a board of judges for civil cases and of the appellate board of judges within the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court. The decision provided as follows: 1. To set up an appellate board of judges for civil cases at the Kazakh branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court; 2. To instruct the RSFSR Supreme Court to make the necessary changes and additions to the regulation approved by the Presidium of the All-Union Executive Committee on 11 April 1923; 3. To submit the amended draft regulation regarding the Kazakh branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court to the Presidium of the All-Union Central Executive Committee and to the RSFSR Soviet of People's Commissars. Minutes No. 9 dated 24 August 1924 of the session of the Presidium of the Kazakh branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court provided as follows: 1. Pursuant to Resolutions of the All-Union Central Executive Committee dated 11 April 1923 and 1 June 1925 to reword paragraphs «б» and «в» of article 1 as follows: б) the court board of judges for criminal cases and the court board of judges for civil cases … 2) the 2nd article to be supplemented with the following words after the words «Chairman of the branch»: «Chairmen of the appellate board of judges for criminal cases and of the appellate board of judges for civil cases». The new regulations regarding the Kazakh branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court was discussed and approved by all governmental legal authorities. The most important change made was the introduction of the board of judges for civil cases and the appellate board of judges into the composition of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh ASSR. Article 6 of the draft regulations adopted in 1925 provides that « …the amount of civil claims that is referred by the province courts of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic to the branch of the Supreme Court may not exceed 10,000 roubles. If the requested amount exceeds 10,000 roubles, then the petition of appeal must be brought directly before the RSFSR Supreme Court.» The claimants and the respondents in all legal cases referred to the competence of the board of judges for civil cases shall be the Kazakh Central Executive Committee: the Soviet of People's Commissars; the people's commissariats and other such central administrations; provincial and oblast executive committees and the capital city's council. Having agreed this draft with the All-Union Central Executive Committee on 18 January 1926 the RSFSR Soviet of People's Commissars adopted a resolution on the status of the Kazakh branch of the RSFSR Supreme Court.»
A lot of effort and energy was invested in the organisation of the board of judges for civil cases of the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court by the chairman of the branch Mr. Myrzagul Ataniyazov. In 1921 – 1922 he worked as deputy chairman and chairman of the military board of judges of the Aktyubinsk provincial tribunal. After 1922 he performed the functions of people's commissar for justice of the Kazakh ASSR. Being a highly qualified lawyers and a recognised authority on legal matters, from 1925 to 1927 Myrzagul Ataniyazov was put at the head of the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court. He also became victim of the Stalin repressions.
In 1926 the establishment of the Kazakh branch of the Supreme Court was complete. In 1926 – 1936 the courts played an active role in accordance with the Soviet laws in the support of communist ideas for the construction of a socialist society. In 1936 the courts were considerably strengthened by the new Constitution adopted by the 8th All-Union extraordinary congress. Considerable changes were taking place in the system of State governance of Kazakhstan. Our autonomous republic became a Union republic. It adopted a constitution that promoted the establishment and development of the republic, the exercise of State powers and the pursuance of legislative activities. On 9 July 1936 the Presidium of the Kazakh Central Executive Committee headed by L.I. Mirzoyan set up a constitutional commission. On 3 February 1937 the Kazakh Central Executive Committee considered the adoption of the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR. It was resolved to publish the amended draft Constitution for the purposes of its discussion by the working public.
On 26 March 1937 the All-Kazakh Congress of Soviets passed a resolution on the adoption of the new Constitution of the socialist Kazakhstan. Chapter IX of the USSR Constitution and Chapter VII of the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR were dedicated to the issues of organisation and establishment of the prosecutor's offices. According to the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR, the judicial system was established in accordance with the administrative / political division of the territory under the auspices of the Soviet of people's deputies. All districts had representatives of the people's courts that dealt with civil and criminal cases. Those were considered to be the lowest courts. The next step up the ladder was occupied by oblast courts. They considered and decided on civil and criminal cases on the oblast scale, they also considered and rendered decisions in respect of appeals brought against judgements pronounced by people's courts.
The Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR was the supreme judicial body. It had the power to review the decisions of the lower court bodies by way of supervision and cassation. Also the Supreme court had the right to review the decisions on appeals and protests that were denied in view of the non-compliance with the deadlines for their submission established by the law. In 1936 in accordance with the fundamental principles of the USSR and the Kazakh SSR, people's court judges were elected by working people by direct, equal and secret vote for a period of 3 years. The right to nominate candidates for the positions of judges and people's assessors (juries) was given to general meetings of public organisations of working people; party and trade union organisations. Judges of the oblast courts were elected by the oblast Soviet of deputies for a period of 5 years. Judges of the Supreme Court were appointed by the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR also for a period of 5 years. They were comprised of a chairman, a deputy chairman, members of the Supreme court and people's assessors. The board of judges for criminal cases and the board of judges for civil cases were responsible for the conduct of proceedings in the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR. Both boards of judges of the Supreme Court had equal rights and conducted their affairs independently of each other. They had the right to reverse the final decisions and judgements of the lower courts. They also had the right, based on petitions of appeal, to reverse decisions of oblast court that were preliminary approved by the chairman of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR and by the prosecutor general of the Kazakh SSR but that did not yet become final. That was necessary because under the new law on the composition of courts adopted in 1928 oblast courts were deprived of the right to hold court plenary sessions and board meetings for consideration of court cases. Those rights were delegated to the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR and to the USSR Supreme Court, which is why oblast court administrations were dismissed. That is to say that under the new law on the composition of the court, all Kazakh courts were responsible for court cases strictly within a definite scope of their competencies.
In 1939 the second session of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR elected 25 judges and 43 people's assessors of the Supreme Court. During World War II all the USSR courts were operating under the martial law. At that time it became necessary to urgently revise the work of the courts so as to meet the demands of the war time. On 22 June 1941 the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet issued a decree on imposing martial law. In effect it became the main program for the maintenance of public order and discipline and for ensuring the national security. In the area of military operations all courts became parts of the military councils and reported to the military okrug administrations. No martial law was introduced behind the front line. The Kazakh courts struggled to maintain law and order on the home front, to prevent embezzlement of the people's wealth, to ensure compliance with the socialist laws in the provision of the army with foodstuffs and clothes, played an active role in the fight against speculation and looting. In this respect it is necessary to mention the work of the people's courts. They imposed strict punishments on traitors, deserters, instigators who spread anti-Soviet rumours. During the war time the people's court of Kazakhstan had to send to the front their best personnel and highly qualified judges. For example, in 1942 they sent 130 people's judges, 31 members of the oblast court to the Soviet Army, in 1943 – 77 people's judges and 13 members of the oblast court. Their places were taken up by lawyers who were injured during military operations and by other lawyers working in the rear.
After the end of the war, on 23 June 1945, the USSR Supreme Soviet passed the law on demobilisation of the elderly soldiers from the army. They joined the work force and participated in the restoration work. In the post-war years the emergency bodies, special courts and the legal norms that came into existence during the war time were cancelled. The manufacturing companies that had during the war time been engaged in the production of military equipment returned to their peace time activities. Many of the citizens who had been punished for administrative offences during the war time were pardoned or were granted a mitigation of their sentences.
On 26 May 1947 there was issued a decree on the abolishment of the capital punishment. All these were vestiges of the returning peaceful life. The war claimed a heavy toll on the lives of people and destroyed many cities and villages, as well as thousands of vitally important facilities. This situation resulted in an acutely felt deficit of qualified personnel. People without special training were appointed to court bodies. This situation continued after the war. In 1946 the qualified judges (with higher education diplomas) in the Kazakh court bodies accounted for just 5 per cent. of all judges, about 14% had secondary education; 45 per cent. were the people who had undergone short term law education courses, and 36 per cent. did not have any training in law. This situation was typical for the entire Union. In 1946 the capacity of the legal educational establishments was increased considerably and conditions were created for the training of the necessary legal personnel. For example, if in 1940 about 40 per cent. of the oblast judges did not have legal qualifications, in 1959 all judges had diplomas from higher educational establishments. It of course had a positive effect on the quality of justice administration. The number of the court cases returned on the grounds of poor preparation of court documents decreased by half. From then on the training of court employees began to improve quickly. In 1959 66 per cent. of Kazakh judges had higher legal education. The USSR Constitution of 1936 provides that the application of civil codes and procedural laws is the same for all the Union republics. During the 20 years the USSR Supreme Soviet had adopted only one law on the composition of the USSR court and of the courts of the Union republics. There was no All-Union code, that is why before the adoption of the 1939 Constitution the republics used their own codes. Moreover, such codes were in existence only in nine out of the fifteen republics: in the RSFSR, the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan. The six republics that were created in the same year had no republican codes. They belonged directly to the Union. At that time Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan used the RSFSR codes. Those were the old laws of the 1920-s. In fact they did not meet the requirements of the new time, which is why they were amended and supplemented. For example, the RSFSR Criminal Code adopted by the second session of the All-Union Central Executive Committee in 1926 was applied in Kazakhstan till the year 1959. Also during that period the RSFSR Civil Code was applied that was adopted by the second session of the All-Union Central Executive Committee on 7 June 1923. 157 articles of that code which consisted of 479 articles dealt with issues related to private enterprises whereas in the USSR enterprises could not be owned privately. In 1959 the second session of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR adopted three important laws: on the organisation of courts, the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedural Code. Those laws were subjected to an all-round analysis and were approved by the USSR Supreme Soviet on 25 December 1958.
Under the new law approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR, a plenary meeting was established within the Supreme Court. We mentioned earlier that in the past that function had been performed by the RSFSR Supreme Court. The plenary session of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR was responsible for explaining the laws applicable to court cases considered by republican courts, the analysis of the statistical data, considered the materials summing up the experience of the work of the courts and altered the working procedures as necessary; make appeals against resolutions of the presidium of the Supreme Court, considered and approved reports made by chairmen of the boards of judges of the Supreme Court. Besides, the plenary meeting had the right to discuss the laws of the Kazakh SSR, to bring the most important issues to the attention of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SRR. The plenary session had a special right to control the activities of all the courts and to arrange for the improvement of the qualifications of judges.
The Presidium of the Supreme Court also received considerable additional powers. The Presidium of the Supreme Court consisted of a chairman, its deputy and other members. It considered protests against the decisions made by board of judges of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR. The republican prosecutor or his deputy were obliged to attend the meetings of the presidium. The scope of competence of the presidium and of the plenary session of the Supreme Court of the republic were defined by articles 47 and 49 of the Law on the composition of the court of the Kazakh SSR. This considerably strengthened the position of the presidium and the plenary session of the Supreme Court. In fact they controlled the entire judicial system of the republic.
The 1950-s was an important period in the history of our country. Of particular importance was the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union whose agenda included the elimination of the effects of the personality cult. In view of such political U-turn the Special Court Council ( which worked as a secret body) was dissolved in 1953 by the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. All documents pertaining to secret cases were transfers to various common law courts. Besides, on 19 April 1959 the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Court adopted a law «On complete liquidation of the abhorrent violations committed in the course of investigation of subversive acts, acts of terror and sabotage under the regulations that were adopted in 1934 and in 1937 and that had the force of the law». This law made it possible to name the persons who were subjected to repression during the 30 years of Stalin's rule. This was a triumph of justice in the cause of protection of human rights. The Supreme courts of the republics, oblast and kray courts received the right to consider all State criminal cases, with the exception of espionage cases. One important date should be mentioned in this connection. On 14 August 1954 the USSR Supreme Court issued a decree on the establishment of boards of judges at the Supreme courts of the Union and autonomous republics, at kray and oblast courts and in autonomous oblasts». Pursuant to that decree, on 25 April 1955 the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Court approved the procedure for the consideration of cases by board of judges of oblast courts. By that decree the board of judges were granted the right to control and consider the protests made against the final deacons and sentences handed down by people's courts.
In 1957 the composition of the presidium of the Supreme Court was changed to include more members. In that year the Supreme Court was composed of the chairman and his two deputies, 19 court members, 10 people's assessors. In view of such changes in the composition of courts on 23 March 1960 the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR adopted the decree on the dissolution of the Justice Ministry of the Kazakh SSR. Its functions were delegated to the Supreme Court. The work of local courts was controlled by oblast court. The organisation of the work of oblast and district people' s courts, their financial and technical support, became the responsibility of the judicial authorities, and that situation continued for the next ten years.
In 1970 the USSR Supreme Soviet adopted a resolution on establishing justice ministries in the Union republics. In December of the same year the USSR Council of Ministers adopted Resolution No. 960 «On establishing justice ministries in the Union republics». On the basis of that resolution, the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh republic adopted a resolution «On establishing a justice ministry in the Kazakh SSR and on organisation of its local bodies». The scope of competence of the justice ministry was subjected to discussion and approved. Pursuant to that resolution, the issues relating to personnel and financial and technical support of oblast and district people's courts, and of notarial offices, became the responsibility of the Justice Ministry; besides that the new ministry became responsible for the State notary services, the archives, the statistics on legal cases, and for the funding of notaries.
In the 20 years to follow the judicial system of the republic did not undergo any major changes. The 1936 Constitution (the 1937 Constitution for Kazakhstan) was of course outdated and could no longer meet the demands of the new public order. So, in 1978 a new USSR Constitution was adopted which corresponded to the tasks of construction of a developed socialist society. The new Constitution of the Kazakh SSR was fully in line with the tasks and objectives set by the USSR Constitution «which pursues a high goal of the building of communism and lays down a solid foundation for public consent and for the USSR's policy».
In 1985 the Soviet Union embarked on the road to democratisation. The country managed to overcome the perestroika (restructuring) period with dignity and without exacerbating the political situation. As a result, the Union republics acquired their sovereignty, became independent and withdrew from the Union. In this light, the adoption by the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR on 24 April 1990 of the law «On the introduction of the position of the President of the Kazakh SSR and on making additions to the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR» and the resolution of 24 April 1990 «On the President of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic» became an important event in the lives of the Kazakh peoples that changed the public order and the government structure of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Declaration of State sovereignty of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic marked the beginning of national independence dreamt of by the Kazakh people for many centuries. On 16 December 1991 there was published the Constitutional Law of the President N. Nazarbayev «On State sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan» which declared our country's independence to the entire world. That was a truly historic event which is now celebrated as a national holiday by the peoples of Kazakhstan.
On 28 January 1993 the new Law of the sovereign Kazakhstan – the Constitution – was published. The new Constitution was drafted so as to reflect the changes that have taken place in the public and government system. The international reputation of Kazakhstan has improved and there emerged new social, public and political relations. Besides, the Republic of Kazakhstan declared that it was going to build a democratic state. All that necessitated the need for a drastic reform of the legal system so as to adjust it to the new public, political, social, economic and international status of the young state. The President's Resolution «On State program of legal reform in the Republic of Kazakhstan» dated 12 February 1994 became a historical document that determined the priority areas of the legal reform. Just and independent courts, highly qualified and impartial judges appointed on a permanent basis, provision of a better social support to judges – all this is necessary to achieve a just administration of justice and to ensure that the judges have the necessary domestic amenities befitting their social significance and extent of responsibility. The social and domestic issues were considered as one of the major problems. This resolution clearly defined the structure of the judicial bodies of the republic, the scope of authority of judges, the issues related to preparation of qualified judges. The Supreme Court was recognised as the supreme court authority responsible for supervision and control of the lower courts, and vested with the right to explain the issues related to the application of the laws. There were defined the structure and the composition of the court bodies. It was decided that all internal matters, the matters related to administration of justice and the provision of judges with the necessary wherewithal were to be delegated to the head of staff. At present the composition of oblast and city courts is identical; military courts on the territory of Kazakhstan may be included in the composition of the plenary session of the Supreme court of the Republic in view of their competence and the tasks performed. The institute of people's assessors was abolished. The next step of the President of the Republic in the reform of the judicial system was the issuance of the 1995 Decree «On courts and the status of judges in the Republic of Kazakhstan». This decree has the force of the law. It confirms the determining role of the independent judicial power – one of the three equal branches of the State power.
The 75 year history of the Supreme Court is a complex road towards improving the judicial system, the struggle to achieve the triumph of justice and humanity. The Kazakh society has travelled that road with dignity and knows from its hard experience that only a competent and independent court can guarantee lawfulness and justice.
1. Full code of Russian laws " XXII, No. 164. p. 82.
2. RSFSR ZSU, 1919. No. 13. p. 132.
3. RK GCA. F. 251, 1 "а" case 16.
4. RK GCA. F. 251, 1 "a " case 63.
5. RK GCA. Fund 251, 1 "a ", case 63.
6. RK GCA. Fund 251, 1 "а", case 74.
7. RK GCA. Fund 5, 17, case 106.
8. RK GCA. Fund 5, 17, case 106.
9. Bulletin of the USSR Supreme Soviet, 1956, No., p. 119
10. Session of the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR, of the 4th convocation, p. 212
11. Bulletin of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR, No. 18, 1978, p. 7-10.
