Kazakhstan's Constitution meets modern standards and ensures sustainability
Could you please tell about the history of the constitutional system in Kazakhstan?
In the Soviet times we had three constitutions corresponding to the requirements of the totalitarian system. The first one was the Constitution of the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of 1924. The next was the Constitution of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic of 1937, which was adopted on the basis of the so called "Stalin Constitution" of 1936. New Constitution was a nearly identical copy of the Soviet Constitution of 1936, but limiting some rights. Over the period of its existence the document was modified 500 times.
The 1978 Constitution of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was elaborated on the basis of the Constitution of 1977, also known as the constitution of socialism with a human face. However the new Constitution failed to reflect sovereign rights of our republic fundamentally, despite the state was called sovereign in its text. In fact our republic had few sovereign rights - the center of the Soviet Union decided everything itself. Moreover, 93% of all revenues of the republic were disposed to the center. Thus our republic was called subsidized. Only after declaration of independence and owing to the Constitution of 1993 the republic could begin a new productive life.
Your contribution to the development of the Fundamental Law of Kazakhstan is significant. What was taken as the basis of the document?
I participated in elaboration of the KazSSR Constitution and Constitution of Kazakhstan of 1993. Though I did not take part in the development of the 1995 Constitution directly, I was involved in the discussion of its draft. Besides, I contributed to the development of framework acts that in one form or another were included to the 1995 Constitution.
I also elaborated many draft fundamental laws, for instance the Law "On establishing the post of the President of Kazakhstan" as of April 24, 1990. Probably we defined the rights of the president not in full. During that transition period the head of the state ought to be a strong leader having enough power to rapidly solve all problems the country faced.
For that matter the Constitution of 1993 didn't meet all demands. In this regard the second Constitution of the independent Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted in 1995 by means of nationwide discussion. In this Constitution we divided the state power into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Broad powers of our President were outlined in it. The Declaration on State Sovereignty of Kazakhstan and the Low on State Independence were other basic documents, included in the Constitution of 1995.
What difficulties did you face in this work?
We had to study the experience of other countries while developing the mentioned legislative acts. We had collections of texts of constitutions of the most important foreign states that we examined. Besides, we studied particular legislative acts of countries that don't have the so called written constitution in form of one document. The Constitution of 1993 was the most democratic one of all previous. I promoted the document in the USA within a month. I visited eight states, met with Senators, Congressmen, representatives of scientific community and society. American senators found the Constitution very democratic for that time.
How does the constitutional process develop nowadays? To what extent does the main Law of the country meet modern realia and demands?
I am frequently asked the question whether a new constitution will be adopted or whether any amendments will be made to the current Constitution. I believe that amendments to the Constitution should be determined by the life. If any amendments are necessary we will introduce them. The Kazakh Constitution provides stable development of the society and state. Due to this and previous constitutions we managed to provide stable and peaceful development of our country. This is a merit of our President, acting within the Constitution.
The Constitution functions successfully today. I believe that the main Law of our country will further its functioning as long as it still has potential resources. This Constitution provides rights of people, as long as it places a priority on the people of our country.
Thank you for the interview.