Mitskaya Elena
The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal regulation of mediation in criminal cases in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan began to shift towards the use of alternative methods of criminal law conflicts in connection with the humanization of criminal policy. It was not so long ago. Since 2011, Kazakhstan has legislatively secured the possibility of using alternative methods for resolving conflicts in various spheres (family, civil, labor and other legal relationships). The consolidation of mediation in the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan occurred solely on the basis of studying the experience of other states. The nature of mediation was taken into account, and, first of all, its voluntariness, the independence in choosing the option of resolving a legal conflict. It is by virtue of this that the application of mediation became possible not only in civil-law conflicts, but also in criminal ones. While Kazakhstan’s practice of applying mediation into criminal cases has been developing relatively recently, it requires its improvement on a number of issues – training of mediators, procedural regulation, payment for mediator services, and others. Mediation entered the criminal procedural practice of application rather more ideologically with shortcomings of its clear procedural regulation. The number of civil cases considered by Kazakh courts using mediation significantly exceeds the number of criminal cases since 2011, when mediation was introduced. This fact attracts special attention and testifies the unpopularity of mediation as a mean of resolving criminal legal conflict among citizens. Under the new acting Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, mediation has become one of the grounds for exemption from criminal liability. Based on the analysis of the current Kazakhstan’s legislation regulating the use of mediation in criminal cases, the shortcomings of this legislation have been identified, proposals for its improvement have been formulated, which can strengthen the protection of the rights of the victim, and expand the use of criminal mediation.
Keywords: alternative methods of conflict resolution; mediation; criminal legal conflict; criminal procedure legislation; criminal procedure; protection of rights of parties to mediation; criminal mediation; restorative justice.