Kazakhstan adopts new Code of Judicial Conduct
Addressing the participants, Supreme Judge Kairat Mami congratulated the judges of the country on adoption of the document.
The Code includes 15 articles stipulating rules of conduct for judges. In particular, judges are recommended refraining from public statements related to legitimacy of court judgments which have not become effective in law. The judges must also refrain from the comments which may dent the reputation of the country’s court system and impair the interests of judgment.
Out-of-court behavior of a judge, his relations with the process participants must help maintain public’s trust in independence of court. Judges are also recommended refraining from abstract, evidence-free criticism of law and other regulatory-legal acts. Besides, judges must refrain from public evaluation of the government’s activity and from demonstration of his religious affiliation in the discharge of his duties.
Judges may inform mass media about stages of court proceedings, explain the court’s verdict, inform about the current practice of application of substantive and procedural law provisions. If a judge’s reputation is damaged via mass media, he/she may apply to law-enforcement structures and courts to protect his/her honor, dignity and reputation in exceptional cases only, when other means of protection have been exhausted.
As per the Code, judges must avoid visiting public events and places if these visits may damage their reputation.
The provisions of the Code enter into force since adoption and may be modified, amended or cancelled by the Congress of Kazakhstan Judges.
The previous Code of Judicial Conduct adopted at the 5th Congress on November 18, 2009 must be deemed invalid.