Commentary on Article 88. Limitation Periods of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The limitation periods for bringing a person to criminal liability or for enforcing a conviction are reduced by half when minors are released from criminal liability or from serving a sentence.

The article under consideration defines the specific features of calculating limitation periods when minors are released from criminal liability or from serving a sentence.

Based on the content of this article, it should be noted that the running of limitation periods, including their interruption and suspension, is determined for minors in the same manner as for adults.

The limitation periods for bringing a minor to criminal liability or for enforcing a conviction are reduced by half, in comparison with the periods established in Articles 71 and 77 of the Criminal Code, when a minor is released from criminal liability or from serving a sentence.

This provision of criminal law is also one of the clear manifestations of the State's humane attitude towards minors.

Paragraph 30 of the Regulatory Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Judicial Practice in Cases Involving Criminal Offences Committed by Minors and Their Involvement in the Commission of Criminal Offences and Other Antisocial Acts” states: “It should be borne in mind that, pursuant to Article 88 of the Criminal Code, the limitation periods for bringing minors to criminal liability and the limitation periods for enforcing a conviction against them amount to half of the periods prescribed for adults under Articles 71 and 77 of the Criminal Code, regardless of whether the accused or convicted person has attained the age of majority by the time of being brought to criminal liability or by the time the conviction is enforced.”

Article 71 of the Criminal Code establishes the limitation periods for release from criminal liability due to the expiry of the limitation period, while Article 77 establishes the limitation periods for release from serving a sentence due to the expiry of the limitation period for enforcing a conviction. These articles specify the periods for applying the statute of limitations on general grounds, i.e. with respect to persons who have reached the age of majority.

However, since Article 88 of the Criminal Code provides that these periods are reduced by half for minors, it follows that, when applying this legal institution to minors, the general periods specified in Articles 71 and 77 of the Criminal Code, which apply to persons who have reached the age of 18, must be divided in half.

Pursuant to the provision established in the article under consideration, a minor shall be released from criminal liability if the following periods have elapsed from the date of commission of the criminal offence:

six months — after the commission of a criminal misdemeanour;

one year — after the commission of a minor-gravity crime;

two and a half years — after the commission of a medium-gravity crime;

seven and a half years — after the commission of a grave crime;

ten years — after the commission of an especially grave crime.

A minor convicted of a criminal offence shall be released from serving the sentence if the conviction has not been enforced within the following periods, calculated from the date on which it entered into legal force:

six months — in the case of conviction for a criminal misdemeanour;

one and a half years — in the case of conviction for a minor-gravity crime;

three years — in the case of conviction for a medium-gravity crime;

five years — in the case of conviction for a grave crime;

seven and a half years — in the case of conviction for an especially grave crime.

Commentary on the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2021, by Isidor Shamilovich Borchashvili, Honoured Figure of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Law, Professor, Academician of the Kazakhstan National Academy of Natural Sciences, member of the Scientific Advisory Councils under the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, member of the working group on reform of the law enforcement system under the Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Honoured Employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

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