Reforming Legal Aid for The Vulnerable

Project Information

Overall objective:

To enhance the protection of individual rights of vulnerable people in particular in the wider criminal and civil justice systems, through improving access to government funded legal aid.

 

Specific objectives:

• Through rigorous field research and monitoring of legislation, to identify major challenges and barriers preventing vulnerable people from accessing government funded legal aid as they face criminal or civil affairs.

• To advocate at the national level for criminal and civil justice reforms in particular in the area of access to legal aid for vulnerable populations.

• To raise awareness of vulnerable people about specific mechanisms of accessing the legal aid.

 

Estimated results:

• The main barriers preventing vulnerable people from accessing legal aid are identified and recommendations for improvement of legislation developed

• The recommended improvements on the provision of legal aid to the vulnerable groups are adapted and included in the legislative drafting plan of the Ministry of Justice of Kazakhstan for 2019.

• Improved access to legal aid for vulnerable groups through increased public awareness of the mechanisms of obtaining government funded legal aid.

 

Main activities:

• Creation of an Expert Committee;

• Research and monitoring of legislation;

• Study tour to Georgia (Tbilisi);

• Regional round tables;

• Expert evaluation of proposed recommendations on improvement of legislation;

• National conference “Reforming Legal Aid for the Vulnerable” and a round-table for deputies of Mazhilis;

• Advocacy campaign in the regions

• Final project evaluation

 

Geographical coverage:

7 regions of Kazakhstan: Almaty, South Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Karagandy, Pavlodar, East Kazakhstan and West Kazakhstan oblasts

 

Donor of the action:

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development over the 60+ years of enlargement.

The EU-Kazakhstan diplomatic relations started in 1993. Today, the EU is one of Kazakhstan's biggest foreign investor and trading partner. The EU-Kazakhstan relations are currently build on the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) which covers 29 key policy areas, including economic and financial cooperation, energy, transport, environment and climate change, employment and social affairs, culture, education and research.

In 1991-2014, the EU funded over 350 projects in Kazakhstan amounting to € 180 million, notably focusing on: (a) strengthening the capacity of central and local government; (b) supporting reform of the justice sector; and (c) improving the capacity of the public sector to introduce social and economic reforms. Bilateral interventions through the EU Development and Cooperation Instrument (DCI) during 2007-2013 amounted to € 74 million.

The country economic upgrade to Upper Middle Income Country still allows Kazakhstan to benefit from EU regional cooperation under The Regional Multiannual Indicative Program for Central Asia. This is focusing on two sectors: Sustainable Development (energy, environment, water and socio-economic development) and Regional Security (border management, fight against drugs and crime, Rule of law and judiciary reforms). The EU allocates € 360 million for regional cooperation projects in Central Asia for the 2014-2020 funding period (including € 115 million for Erasmus+ programme).

The EU also funds a variety of projects in Kazakhstan to encourage a pluralistic political system while strengthening the role of civil society through such thematic programmes as the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and the Non-State Actors and Local Authorities (NSA-LA).

 

Contact information:

Akmaral Karlybayeva, Project manager, tel.: +7 (727) 250 18 10, ext. 120, cell: +7 701 346 21 77, email: akmaralk@ef-ca.org 

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Donors and Partners

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Resourses and Files

Geographic reach of the project