Kazakhstan eyes prohibiting and restraining orders

Once Kazakhstan adopts its new Criminal Procedures Code, the country's courts will be able to pass orders prohibiting or restricting approaches by the defendant to the protected, Tengrinews reports. This is the first time the country will legalize such orders. Member of the Majilis, the lower chamber of the Kazakhstan Parliament, Yelena Tarasenko expressed concern that the law does not specify the minimal permissible distance between the defendant and the protected. "The question is how the order is going to be put to practice and how its observance is going to be controlled by the authorities," the MP said addressing Deputy Prosecutor General Iogan Merkel. The Deputy Prosecutor General said that initially it was proposed to set a specific distance in the law, but after studying the cases thoroughly they realised that it won't work. "There are cases when the people work in the same company, live in the same apartment or next-doors. In these case their routine distance from each is less than 100 meters. And if we legally set a distance for the restraining orders then it will become impossible to apply in some cases. Courts will be setting the distance judging from the circumstances of every case. Besides the distance restrictions, the orders may limit other forms of contacts, for example prohibit the defendant from contacting the protected over the phone," Iogan Merkel explained. Concerning control of observance of the no contact orders, Iogan Merkel believes that the protected themselves can execute the control and report the defendants who violate the court orders to the police. If such violation report is confirmed the defendant will have to pay a fine. By Assel Satayeva