Peaceful assemblies in Kazakhstan: Constitutional Court clarifies rules

Tengrinews.kz - Kazakhstan's Constitutional Court has provided an interpretation of the regulation on the procedure for holding peaceful assemblies.

The review was prompted by an appeal regarding the refusal of the Akimat (local government administration) of Astana to approve a peaceful assembly at the location and time proposed by the organizer. The appellant argued that the law allows local executive bodies to arbitrarily deny holding peaceful assemblies without offering alternative proposals for location or time, thereby violating the principle of proportionality in refusals and the degree of potential threat.

Findings of the Constitutional Court

Following the review, the Constitutional Court deemed subparagraphs 2) and 3) of the first paragraph of Article 11 of the law to be consistent with the Constitution. The court also stated in its decision that the right to peaceful assembly is not absolute and may be legally conditioned, as outlined in the Constitution.

"Information about the occupancy of designated venues, published on the local executive authority's website, must provide citizens with clear details, including at least the planned events, their location and date, start and end times, and the expected number of participants," the court stated.

At the same time, regarding subparagraph 10) of paragraph 1, Article 14 of the law, the Constitutional Court clarified that local executive authorities are required to propose changes to the location and/or time of a peaceful assembly before issuing a decision to deny it.