Commentary on Article 156. Undertaking to Appear Before the Person Conducting the Pre-Trial Investigation and in Court of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan
1. Where there is no need to apply a preventive measure, but there are sufficient grounds to believe that a suspect or accused person against whom no preventive measure has been applied may evade participation in investigative actions or court proceedings, or where such persons have actually failed to appear when summoned without valid reasons, such persons may be required to provide a written undertaking to appear promptly when summoned by the criminal prosecution authority or the court and, in the event of a change of residence, to notify them immediately thereof. When an undertaking to appear is obtained, the suspect or accused person shall also be warned of the consequences of failure to comply with it, as provided for in Part Four of Article 140 of this Code.
2. A written undertaking to appear before the criminal prosecution authority or the court may also be obtained from a victim and a witness.
3. In the event of failure to comply with the undertaking to appear, a monetary penalty may be imposed on the persons specified in Part One of this Article in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 160 of this Code, and a preventive measure may be applied.
4. In the event of failure to comply with the undertaking to appear, a monetary penalty may be imposed on the persons specified in Part Two of this Article in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 160 of this Code.
1. An undertaking to appear serves as an alternative to preventive measures in a criminal case and, under certain circumstances, may develop into the imposition of a preventive measure. Within the meaning of the provisions of Part One of Article 156 of the CPC, there must be sufficient grounds in the case that are necessary for applying an undertaking to appear. These include: evidence available in the case; operational-search information and the results of covert investigative actions; and other information that may indicate the intention of a suspect, accused person, witness or victim to deliberately evade participation in proceedings at the relevant stages of the criminal process, or at least one instance of failure to appear, without a valid reason, before the authority conducting the criminal proceedings upon its official summons.
Valid reasons for failure to appear are set out in Part Two of Article 157 of the CPC.
2. An undertaking to appear does not require the issuance of a separate ruling and is formalized in the form of a written undertaking drawn up by the authority conducting the criminal proceedings, signed by the suspect, accused person, etc., who receives a copy thereof, undertaking to appear promptly when summoned and to notify the authority in advance of any change of residence.
3. The consequences of violating an undertaking to appear may vary and depend on the legal status of the participant in the criminal proceedings. If the undertaking is violated by a suspect or accused person, a preventive measure may be applied to them, and a monetary penalty may also be imposed by an investigating judge (Part Three of Article 156 of the CPC).
4. The inclusion of witnesses and victims among the persons against whom an undertaking to appear may be applied is justified, since these persons often evade participation in investigative and judicial actions or fail to appear in a timely manner in response to duly substantiated summonses issued by the authorities conducting criminal proceedings. Therefore, in the event of a witness or victim violating an undertaking to appear, the law provides for the imposition of a monetary penalty on them by an investigating judge (Part Four of Article 156 of the CPC).
Commentary of 2020 to the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan by Marat Chekishevich Kogamov, Doctor of Law, Honorary Lawyer of Kazakhstan, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences, Honored Employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
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