Even Offering A Bribe To Become A Crime In Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has proposed introducing criminal liability for promising or offering a bribe, Orda.kz reports.

This was stated at a Senate meeting by Andrey Lukin, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, Defense and Security.

According to him, the new anti-corruption amendments will punish not only the transfer of a bribe, but also the very fact of offering or promising one.

Today we are criminalizing the promise and offer of a bribe. In fact, the detection of intent itself is already becoming a crime. This is an unprecedented step toward forming an anti-corruption culture and intolerance to corruption, when even talk about bribery receives a criminal assessment,Lukin said.

He noted that the amount of the bribe and the form of the offer, whether oral or written, will be important for opening a criminal case.

The offer or promise of a bribe itself becomes the evidence base. At the same time, the amount is important — significant, large, or especially large — because the elements of the crime and the sanction depend on it. In addition, Kazakhstan is introducing such norms as part of its obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption,Lukin added.

The Senate approved the draft law on anti-corruption amendments in the second reading.

Original author: Alina Elgeldina

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