Comment to Article 129. Libel of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

     1. Slander, that is, the dissemination of deliberately false information that discredits the honor and dignity of another person or undermines his reputation,-      

is punishable by a fine in the amount of one hundred to two hundred monthly calculation indices or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of up to two months, or by community service for a period of one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty hours, or correctional labor for a period of up to one year.      

2. Slander contained in a public speech, or in a publicly displayed work, or in the mass media, -      

is punishable by a fine in the amount of two hundred to five hundred monthly calculation indices or in the amount of the convicted person's salary or other income for a period of two to five months, or by community service for a period of one hundred and eighty to two hundred and forty hours, or by correctional labor for a period of one to two years, or by restriction of liberty for a period of up to two years, or by arrest for up to six months.      

3. Slander connected with the accusation of a person in the commission of corruption, grave or especially grave crime, -

     is punishable by restriction of liberty for a term of up to three years or imprisonment for the same term.

     In accordance with article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, human dignity is inviolable. The inviolability of human dignity means the recognition of the personal value of each person, his way of thinking and acting based on moral principles. A person is recognized as the bearer of valuable, moral and intellectual qualities. Human dignity is linked to one's position in society, reputation, lifestyle, professionalism, and other circumstances. Everyone deserves respect and recognition of the right to independence of their thinking and actions. The Constitution strictly defines the obligations to respect the inviolability of human dignity when conducting lawful actions, for example, during various investigative actions, examinations, searches, interrogations, confrontations, seizure of correspondence, detention, arrest, etc.      

Public danger is expressed in the fact that this act harms the honor and dignity of a person, as well as undermines his business reputation.    

The object of the crime is human honor and dignity, as well as business reputation.      

The objective side of the crime is characterized by the dissemination of deliberately false information that discredits the honor and dignity of another person or undermines his reputation.      

Honor is a public assessment of a person, a measure of his spiritual and social qualities.    

Dignity is a person's internal self—assessment of their own qualities, abilities, worldview, and social importance.    

Business reputation is a stable positive assessment of a person's business (industrial, professional) merits by public opinion.      

In accordance with paragraph 1 of the Regulatory Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On the application in judicial practice of legislation on the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation of individuals and legal entities" dated December 18, 1992 No. 6 (as last amended. dissemination of information discrediting the honor and dignity of a citizen means publishing it in the press, broadcasting it on radio, television, using other mass media, presenting it in official and other characteristics, public speeches, statements addressed to various officials, or otherwise, including orally several people, or at least one person. The communication of such information to only one person concerned cannot be recognized as its dissemination.  

   Defamatory information is such untrue information that detracts from the honor and dignity of a citizen in public opinion or the opinion of individual citizens in terms of compliance with laws and moral principles of society. At the same time, demands for refutation of information containing relevant criticism of shortcomings in work, in a public place, in a team, or in everyday life cannot be considered justified.    

 A crime is considered completed from the moment of dissemination of defamatory information, which must be deliberately false, i.e. initially untrue, discrediting the honor and dignity of another person, or undermining his reputation.    

The subjective side of the crime is characterized by direct intent. It must be established that the perpetrator was aware of the falsity of the facts reported by him, which discredit the honor and dignity of another person or undermine his reputation, and wanted to do so. A conscientious misconception about the reliability of the information disseminated, i.e. in the case when a person was confident in the truthfulness of the information, although in fact they were false, excludes liability for defamation, but may be criminally liable under Article 130 of the Criminal Code if this information was offensive.     

The motives of slander can be different, envy, revenge, the desire to harm a rival, etc.   

  The subject of the crime is a sane individual who has reached the age of 16.   

  The qualified corpus delicti is provided for in Part 2 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code — Slander contained in a personal statement, or in a publicly displayed work, or in the media. These circumstances significantly increase the danger, as slander becomes accessible to a wide range of people. A public speech is considered to be a speech in front of a large audience (lecture, meeting, report). A publicly displayed work can be of any genre and presentation form (play, film program, book, etc.). Defamation in the mass media involves the dissemination of deliberately false information of a defamatory nature on television, radio broadcasting, in newspapers and magazines.    

 Part 3 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code provides for a particularly qualified, most dangerous type of slander, combined with accusing a person of committing a corrupt, serious or especially serious crime (see parts 4 and 5 of art.10 of the Criminal Code).      

Slander differs from deliberately false denunciation in that slander spreads any false information discrediting the honor and dignity of a citizen (including about an alleged crime), while false information only contains information about the commission of a specific crime by the victim. In case of defamation, false information is provided to any person, including representatives of state and public organizations, and in case of false denunciation, false information about the crime is reported to law enforcement agencies. In case of slander, the perpetrator's intent is aimed at humiliating the honor and dignity of the victim, and in case of false denunciation, at bringing the victim to criminal responsibility.      

The crimes provided for in Parts 1 and 2 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan are minor crimes.      

The crime provided for in Part 3 of Article 129 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a crime of moderate severity.

Commentary from 2007 to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences BORCHASHVILI I.Sh.                  

Date of amendment of the act:  08/02/2007 Date of adoption of the act:  08/02/2007 Place of acceptance:  NO Authority that adopted the act: 180000000000 Region of operation:  100000000000 NPA registration number assigned by the regulatory body:  167 Status of the act:  new Sphere of legal relations:  028000000000 Report form:  COMM Legal force:  1900 Language of the Act:  rus

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