ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE
Kazakhstan hosted an international conference on developing national legislation to increase political accountability and transparency of governmental activities.
The September 2015 event was co-organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Programme Office in Astana, the Legal Council of the Nur Otan Party and the Legislative and Judicial Reform Committee of the Mazhilis of the Parliament and the Legal Policy Research Centre nongovernmental organization with the support of the British Embassy.
Some 100 high-level governmental officials, parliamentarians, representatives of civil society, national and international legal experts and journalists reviewed the text of the laws and proposed amendments to the anti-corruption legislation package dedicated to transparency in government. The adoption of the laws is a key to a national anti-corruption strategy in line with reforms proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Nurlan Abdirov, Mazhilis deputy in Kazakhstan’s Parliament and head of the Legal Council under the Nur Otan Party, said: “The introduction of new mechanisms and procedures for transparency of central and regional authorities, the establishment of public councils and comprehensive and innovative approaches to organizing the work of civil servants will enhance the effectiveness of government’s performance, raise public awareness of its decisions and strengthen the implementation of anti-corruption reforms.”
The legal opinion on the draft law on access to information at different stages of its development, prepared by OSCE expert Professor Maeve McDonagh of Ireland, was discussed at the event. She said: “International standards on access to information and decisions of human rights supervisory bodies, including the U.N. Human Rights Committee and European Court of Human Rights, have recognized that the right to information is the integral and essential element of the exercise of the right of freedom of expression.”
The conference concluded a series of public and expert discussions aimed at developing three laws recently submitted to Kazakhstan’s Parliament. The event is part of multiyear efforts to promote fundamental freedoms, public participation in decision-making and anti-corruption initiatives in line with international standards and best practices.