Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan for

operational. Subject to proper checks and balances and standard of fair trial consider introducing 
legislation which would require a convicted offender to prove the lawful origin of alleged proceeds of 
crime.
The provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code to ensure that the procedure to confiscate proceeds 
and instrumentalities of corruption offences have been reviewed in the course of elaboration of the Law on 
Introduction of Amendments and Additions to Some Legal Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 
Improvement of the Fights against Corruption 2007.
Article 51 defines the confiscation as mandatory extraction of the whole or part of the property of the 
convicted. Although it may seem that the law does not provide for confiscation of the bribe, the authorities 
claimed that in practice the bribe is always seized and confiscated. The new Law further expands the scope 
of confiscation, introducing Article 51, which states that: “apart from confiscation of the property of the 
person convicted for corruption offences according to law, the property acquired illegally, or bought using 
the means acquired illegally shall also be confiscated”. This provision is intended to allow the law 
enforcement agencies to confiscate the instrumentalities of corruption.
The specified Law also introduces amendments to the Criminal Execution Code by introducing Part 2 
to the Article 58. It states: “Apart from confiscation of the property of the convicted persons in order 
specified in law, the property acquired illegally or bought by the means acquired illegally and further 
transferred to the ownership of other persons”. This general formulation has a potential risk of colliding 
with other legislation securing the sanctity of property, as it seems to overlap with the civil-procedure rule. 
The application of such a provision requires special attention in order to avoid abuses of bona fide third 
parties.
A requirement for a convicted offender to prove the lawful origin of alleged proceeds of crime was 
included in the draft law on amendments to legislation in relation to fight against corruption, but was 
rejected during the preparatory consultations.