OECD recommends confiscation for all corruption offences in Kazakhstan

Experts of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) gave Kazakhstan new recommendations for fighting corruption, Tengrinews reports citing the press service of the Agency on Civil Service Affairs and Anti-Corruption.

Two experts of the monitoring group will arrive in Kazakhstan in early December this year to present the report of the third round of monitoring under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan – OECD. New recommendations will be given to the Kazakh state bodies. In particular, it is proposed to apply confiscation of property as punishment for all corruption offences. In the meanwhile Kazakhstan excluded property confiscation from 45 articles of its new Criminal Code that came into effect on July 3, 2014.

“Provide for obligatory confiscation for all corruption crimes. Consider introducing the confiscation provisions into the 2014 Criminal Code  earlier than planned. Provide for confiscation from third parties who knew or should have known of the illegal origin of property, and for protection of bona fide purchasers of property that is subject to forfeiture," the recommendations said. 

The Kazakh anti-corruption agency also informed that a delegation from Kazakhstan had taken part in the 14th Monitoring Meeting of Istanbul Anti-Corruption Plan in Paris. The delegation included representatives of the Agency itself, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General, the Audit Committee, the Ministries of Finance, Justice, and National Economy.

During the plenary sessions and meetings of the OECD Secretariat and the monitoring group it was noted that Kazakhstan had attached substantial efforts to implement the recommendations of the second round. The responsible approach and cooperation of the Kazakh side received a positive assessment.

In the framework of the monitoring by the OECD Secretariat a special session on the best practices of combating corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia was held. The experts acknowledged the efficiency of the anti-corruption tools implemented by Kazakhstan: e-procurement and opinion surveys on corruption in the tax authorities.

In its previous OECD reports recommended Kazakhstan to introduce criminal liability for promising/offering a bribe and accepting a promise/offer of a bribe. In addition, they said that asking for a bribe should also be considered a corruption crime both in public and private sectors.

The organization also urged "to consider the possibility of decriminalizing all slander offences and offences to human dignity, which serve as a strong deterrent to freedom of expression and investigative journalism." 

Reporting by Renat Tashkinbayev, writing by Dinara Urazova