Commentary to article 75. Release from serving a sentence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan

     1. A person convicted of a crime shall be released from serving his sentence if the guilty verdict has not been carried out within the following time limits, counting from the date of its entry into force:       a) three years in case of conviction for a minor crime;      

b) six years upon conviction for a crime of moderate severity;      

c) ten years upon conviction for a serious crime;      

d) fifteen years upon conviction for a particularly serious crime.      

2. The limitation period is suspended if the convicted person evades serving his sentence. In this case, the limitation period is resumed from the moment the person is detained or turns himself in. The limitation periods expired at the time of the convicted person's evasion from serving his sentence are subject to offset. At the same time, a guilty verdict cannot be carried out if twenty-five years have passed since its pronouncement and the statute of limitations has not been interrupted by the commission of a new crime.      

3. The limitation period shall be interrupted if, before the expiration of the time limits specified in paragraph one of this Article, the person commits a new intentional crime. In such cases, the statute of limitations begins anew from the date of the commission of a new crime.      

4. The issue of applying the statute of limitations to a person sentenced to death or life imprisonment shall be decided by the court. If the court does not find it possible to apply the statute of limitations, the death penalty is commuted to life imprisonment, and life imprisonment is commuted to imprisonment for a term of twenty-five years. The statute of limitations does not apply to persons convicted of crimes against the peace and security of mankind.      

In cases where a conviction is not carried out for a longer or shorter period, its execution, as a general rule, becomes impractical from the point of view of both special and general warnings. Therefore, the use of punishment imposed in the past, under certain conditions established by art.75 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, becomes unnecessary.      

The reasons for non-enforcement of a conviction can be very different: negligent work of the court office or employees of the bodies responsible for serving this type of punishment or delivering convicts to penal institutions, etc. But more often than not, a guilty verdict is not carried out as a result of the convicted person's evasion of punishment.      

The limitation period for the execution of a conviction is the expiration of the time limits established by law, after which a court verdict cannot be executed and, therefore, the convicted person is released from serving his sentence.      

Such release is based not only on the term, but also on the degree of public danger and the severity of the crime committed. Therefore, the length of the statute of limitations of a conviction depends on the category to which the crime belongs.      

According to Part 1 of Article 75 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a conviction is not carried out if it has not been carried out from the date of its entry into force for three years upon conviction for a minor crime; for six years

- upon conviction for a crime of moderate gravity; within ten years

- upon conviction for a serious crime; within fifteen years - upon conviction for a particularly serious crime.      

Release from execution of punishment may occur only on condition that the statutory limitation period has not been violated, and the convicted person, while at large, did not evade serving his sentence.      

In accordance with Part 2 of Article 75 of the Criminal Code, the limitation period is suspended if the convicted person evaded serving his sentence.      

The statute of limitations is renewed from the moment the convicted person is detained or turns himself in. So, if the convicted person, evading correctional labor, changed his place of residence, did not register with the penal enforcement inspectorate, the statute of limitations is suspended for the entire time of evasion, and the time from the moment the sentence enters into force to the moment of evasion is counted in the statute of limitations.      

The execution of a guilty verdict suspended by the convicted person's evasion from serving his sentence is carried out after the convicted person's arrest or his surrender, regardless of the time that elapsed before the occurrence of these events.      

Upon the expiration of the statute of limitations of a guilty verdict, release from serving a sentence is mandatory, and not at the discretion of the court, since this is not a right, but an obligation of the court.      

Part 3 of Article 75 of the Criminal Code provides for the interruption of the statute of limitations and the conviction, which may occur when a convicted person commits a new intentional crime. In the case of a new intentional crime, the statute of limitations begins anew, from the date of the commission of the new crime. The time that has elapsed since the entry into force of the verdict in the previous case before the commission of this new crime is not counted in the statute of limitations.      

Release from punishment on the grounds of the expiration of the statute of limitations of a conviction at the discretion of the court, according to Part 4 of Article 75 of the Criminal Code, is considered only in relation to persons sentenced to death or life imprisonment. When deciding on the release or non-release of such persons from punishment, the court takes into account the nature of the crime, the severity of the consequences, the personality of the convicted person, the duration of his evasion from punishment and the reasons for such evasion.      

If, by a court decision, it is impossible to apply the statute of limitations, the death penalty is replaced by life imprisonment, and life imprisonment is replaced by imprisonment for a term of twenty-five years.      

The Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan provides for cases of non-application of the statute of limitations for convictions of those convicted of committing the most dangerous crimes against the peace and security of mankind, provided for in Articles 156-164 of the Criminal Code. This means that a guilty verdict for these criminal acts is subject to execution regardless of the time of detention of convicted evaders or their surrender.      

Release from serving a sentence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations of a conviction is final and cannot be revoked for any reason.

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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