11 December 2009
On December 5, 2009, the President of Kazakhstan signed the Law "On prevention of domestic violence" and the Law "On amendments to some legislative acts of Kazakhstan on the issues of prevention of domestic violence."
The Advocates for Human Rights was invited to review the laws when they were in draft form, first in August 2008 by the UNIFEM Regional Office in Almaty, Kazakhstan; and again in May 2009 by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) in Warsaw, Poland.
OSCE/ODIHR organized meetings with members of parliament and representatives of women’s non-governmental organizations in Astana, Kazakhstan in June 2009. The Advocates traveled to Astana to these meetings where discussions of the draft law occurred.
OSCE/ODIHR’s final opinion was published on 27 October 2009. While a few concerns remained, the law had been improved to remove the “official notice” of the impermissibility of committing domestic violence, and the length of protection orders was extended from 5 to 30 days on application to the prosecutor.
Compiled from: President signed laws on improvement of measures on prevention of domestic violence, kazinform (5 December 2009); Kazakhstan: Final Opinion on Draft Domestic Violence Law Published, The Advocates for Human Rights (6 November 2009); Update on OSCE/ODIHR Meeting in Kazakhstan on Draft Domestic Violence Law, The Advocates for Human Rights (June 2009).