Kazakhstan To Write Off Billions In Fines Under New Amnesty Bill

Kazakhstan has prepared a bill on criminal and administrative amnesty. The Mazhilis adopted it in the first reading, Orda.kz reports.

Deputy Abzal Kuspan presented the conclusion on the draft law.

This is another demonstration of an act of humanism by our state toward people who made mistakes but repented and proved by their behavior that they are on the path to correction. The upcoming amnesty differs from previous ones because, for the first time in our country, an administrative amnesty is being carried out alongside a criminal amnesty,Kuspan said.

Under the criminal amnesty, the bill proposes terminating criminal cases, including those already in court, against people prosecuted for criminal offenses and minor or medium-gravity crimes. This will be possible if the crimes did not cause damage or if the damage was fully compensated.

The bill also proposes releasing those convicted of crimes that do not pose a serious threat to the security of citizens or the state. This applies to criminal offenses and minor or medium-gravity crimes committed without damage or with full compensation.

For some people convicted of medium-gravity, serious, and especially serious crimes, the bill proposes reducing the unserved part of their sentences.

At the same time, the amnesty will not apply to those who committed particularly dangerous crimes. These include corruption, terrorism and extremism-related crimes, crimes against the sexual integrity of minors, torture, repeat offenses, recently criminalized acts, and cases involving people convicted in absentia.

It also became known that people released under the 2025 amnesty who were imprisoned again will not qualify for the new amnesty.

Under last year’s amnesty act, more than 2,000 people were released from prison. Eight of them committed crimes again and were brought to justice again. This is considered recidivism, and the application of amnesty to them is limited,Deputy Interior Minister Abay Kayyrbekov said.

The final decision on whether to apply the amnesty will be made by a court individually for each convicted person.

Under the administrative amnesty, the bill proposes exempting people from unpaid administrative fines for offenses committed before midnight on March 17, 2026.

The Interior Ministry covers 58 articles of the Administrative Code. More than 500,000 people will fall under the administrative amnesty. More than one million fines worth more than 17 billion tenge will be written off in advance. The amnesty will not apply to violations related to illegal drug and weapons trafficking, court decisions, repeated decisions, malicious traffic violations, or acts that pose a threat to the security of citizens. As for the Interior Ministry, the main part of the administrative offenses for which unpaid fines will be written off concerns traffic rules,Deputy Interior Minister Sanzhar Adilov said.

In total, according to Sabit Nurlybay, chairman of the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the Prosecutor General’s Office, 1.47 million administrative offenses worth 21.18 billion tenge will fall under the amnesty.

According to the State Revenue Committee, the amnesty may cover more than 4,000 offenses worth 446 million tenge. Through the Justice Ministry, it may cover 561 offenses worth 16 million tenge. For other law enforcement agencies, it may cover 3,000 offenses worth more than 500 million tenge.

Citizens of Kazakhstan, individual entrepreneurs, private notaries, private bailiffs, lawyers, and legal advisers may fall under the amnesty.

However, the administrative amnesty will not apply to fines imposed by courts or to offenses that pose a threat to the security of citizens and the state.

How Will Fines Be Written Off?

First, the Committee on Legal Statistics of the Prosecutor General’s Office will form a single register and prepare a draft resolution on writing off unpaid fines. After the decision is made, information will be sent electronically to bailiffs, who will automatically write off the fine through enforcement proceedings. The offender will then receive an SMS notification about the write-off.

Original author: Ilya Astakhov

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