Commentary on Article 20. Inadmissibility of Repeated Conviction and Criminal Prosecution of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan
1. No one may be held criminally liable again for one and the same criminal offence.
2. The finality of initial judicial decisions is a fundamental requirement of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Paragraph 7 of Article 14 of the Covenant states: “No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again for an offence for which he has already been finally convicted or acquitted in accordance with the law and criminal procedure of each country.”
The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan considers the principle under commentary to be a principle of justice, according to which: “No one may be held criminally liable again for one and the same offence” (subparagraph 2) of paragraph 3 of Article 77 of the Constitution).
3. In this regard, criminal proceedings shall be terminated at any stage of the criminal process in respect of a person against whom there is a court judgment that has entered into legal force on the same charge, or another unrevoked court ruling establishing the impossibility of criminal prosecution (subparagraph 7) of part 1 of Article 35 of the CPC), as well as in respect of a person whose criminal prosecution has been discontinued on the same suspicion by an unrevoked resolution of the criminal prosecution authority refusing to pursue criminal prosecution (subparagraph 8) of part 1 of Article 35 of the CPC).
4. The above grounds characterize what is known as preclusion (prejudicial effect), that is, the binding and incontestable nature, for all bodies conducting criminal proceedings, of procedural decisions previously adopted in relation to the same facts, both with regard to the circumstances established and their legal assessment. However, this provision does not preclude the review, reversal or modification of a judgment and other court decisions under cassation proceedings or on the basis of newly discovered circumstances (part 1 of Article 127 of the CPC). Moreover, a resolution of a criminal prosecution authority has no binding force on the court, except for a resolution discontinuing criminal prosecution on the same suspicion (part 4 of Article 127 of the CPC). Such is the legal framework established by the CPC of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Commentary of 2020 on the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan by Marat Chekishovich Kogamov, Doctor of Law, Honorary Lawyer of Kazakhstan, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences, Honoured Worker of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
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