FREE
LEGAL AID IN KAZAKHSTAN
202
2008
Table 3
Public institution
Number and name of program
Amount of
financing
Ministry of Internal
Affairs
Program # 003 Protection of the
Rights and Freedoms of the
Persons Involved in Criminal Proceedings;
Sub-Program # 102 Provision of Legal Aid by Lawyers in the
Investigation Stage
163,000,000
Agency for Combating
Economic and
Corruption Crimes
(Financial Police)
Program # 002 Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of the
Persons Involved in Criminal Proceedings;
Sub-Program # 102 Provision of Legal Aid by Lawyers in the
Investigation Stage
6,275,000
Ministry of Justice
Program # 005 Providing of Legal Aid by Lawyers in Court
100,000,000
Total_269,275,000_2009_Table_4_Public_institution_Number_and_name_of_program_Amount_of_financing'>Total
269,275,000
2009
Table 4
Public institution
Number and name of program
Amount of
financing
Ministry of Internal
Affairs
Program # 018 Provision of Legal Aid by Lawyers in the
Investigation Stage
207,475,000
Agency for Combating
Economic and
Corruption Crimes
(Financial Police)
Program # 002 Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of the
Persons Involved in Criminal Proceedings;
Sub-Program # 102 Provision of Legal Aid by Lawyers in the
Investigation Stage
10,936,000
Ministry of Justice
Program # 005 Providing of Legal Aid by Lawyers in Court
130,000,000
Total
348,411,000
From the data above, obtained from the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning, we can see that the total
amount of funding allocated to the fees for appointed attorneys in 2009 increased by 30% compared to 2008.
It is logical to assume that the growth trend will preserve.
Let us calculate the average cost of a lawyer’s involvement in a criminal process. To do this, we need the
information on financing appointed attorneys’ services in criminal cases as well as the number of these cases.
According to the data supplied by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Justice, we have developed
the following table of financial allocations for the payment of appointed counsels’ fees in 2007:
Chapter II
203
Table 5
Name of
institution
Name of program
For North-
Kazakhstan Oblast
For
Kazakhstan
Ministry
of Internal
Affairs
Program # 003 Protection of the Rights and
Freedoms of the Persons Involved in Criminal
Proceedings;
Sub-Program # 102 Provision of Legal Aid by
Lawyers in the Investigation Stage
8,952,000
163,574,000
Ministry of
Justice
Program # 005 Providing of Legal Aid by Lawyers
in Court
8,540,000
130,000,000
Total financing of appointed counsels services
17,492,000
293,574,000
According to the Ministry of Justice and the North Kazakhstan Oblast Bar Association, the number of criminal
cases involving appointed counsels pursuant to Article 71 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Republic
of Kazakhstan (“Obligatory Participation of Defender”) is as follows:
Table 6
Court, inquiry bodies, investigative bodies
For Kazakhstan For North-Kazakhstan
Oblast
In inquiry bodies
11,602
1,400
In investigative bodies
27,168
1,800
In trial courts
29,721
2,038
In appellate courts
1,457
Total number of cases involving appointed counsels in
Kazakhstan
69,948
5,238
Using the data from Tables 5 and 6 we obtain the average cost of the attorney’s services to the government
pursuant to Article 71 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Republic of Kazakhstan (“Obligatory
Participation of Defender”):
Table 7
For Kazakhstan For North-Kazakhstan
Oblast
Total number of cases involving
appointed counsels in Kazakh-
stan (tenge)
69,948
5,238
Total financing of appointed counsels services (tenge)
293,574,000
17,492,000
Average cost per case involving appointed counsel (tenge)
4,197
3,339
FREE LEGAL AID IN KAZAKHSTAN
204
Recommendations for the Transformation of the Existing Free Legal Aid
Facility
State-funded legal aid is provided to citizens to ensure their participation on an equal footing with the
prosecution and other opponents. Formally the person is provided with legal defense and a court-appointed
counsel, but in reality he or she remains as weak and defenseless as before. During our recent survey of those
who have used the services of an appointed attorney 80-90% of the respondents called these services “useless”
and 60-70% initially did not take the “free” lawyers and their assistance seriously. Let us make it clear from the
beginning that our proposals for streamlining the mechanism for legal aid provision and funding pertain only
to criminal cases, as in terms of civil and administrative cases neither the Code of Civil Procedure, nor the Code
on Administrative Offences uniquely determine when a citizen becomes entitled to be compensated for the
costs of legal services from the state budget. Both codes specify the occurrence of relevant legal time for this,
but the decision about appointing a counsel rests with the judge, who rarely resorts to assigning a counsel if
for no other reason than to observe the state interests.
1. Obviously, the more defendants are eligible for free legal aid, the less funds will be provided
to each person in need of legal assistance, and, consequently, the lower will be the quality of such
legal services.
The range of people eligible for free legal aid is large – in fact, each accused person, each suspect or defendant
in criminal trial may benefit from state-funded legal aid, while the financial resources allocated to this end are
limited. The low level of funding actually nullifies the exercisable right to free legal assistance. To improve the
situation, we propose additional measures to ensure the provision of free legal services, namely:
•
develop and facilitate new public and private programs;
•
make use of alternative aid groups working
in the human rights field;
•
identify the range of free legal aid recipients according to their property status; and
•
organize free admission days at the bar associations and alternative organizations.
2. To attract highly qualified lawyers to work as appointed counsels we must first of all create
competition in the lawyer community for the provision of this kind of services. The natural
solution is to increase the fees. The rates for the legal aid delivered by appointed counsels can be
raised in several different ways, or by a combination of:
•
a general increase in the state budget funding allocated to compensation of appointed counsels;
•
a reduction in the number of persons eligible for free legal aid; and
