The Constitutional Council is a collective body of constitutional

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Structure

The Constitutional Council consists of seven members. The Chairman and two members of the council are appointed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and two members each by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and the Mazhilis. Members serve for terms of six years. In addition to the appointed members, any former Presidents of Kazakhstan are lifetime members of the Constitutional Council. The current chairman is

Kairat Mami Qairat Abdirazaquly Mami ( kk, Қайрат Әбдіразақұлы Мәми, ', قايرات ٵبدٸرازاقۇلى مٵمئ) is a Kazakh jurist and politician, former Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan The Senate of Kazakhstan ( kk, Q ...

. The Council was established by the 1995 Constitution which replaced the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan. The decision of the Constitutional Council in whole or in part may be objected to by the President, which can be overturned by two-thirds of the votes of the total number of members of the Constitutional Council. According to the amendments made to the 2017 Constitution, the right of the president's objection is canceled. Only the President, Chairman of the Senate, Chairman of the Mazhilis, at least one fifth of the total number of

deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

of the Parliament, the Prime Minister are allowed to appeal to the Council, as well as the lower courts in a case of infringement of

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and freedoms and citizen normative legal acts.

Jurisdiction

The Constitutional Council considers all decisions made and laws passed by the Mazhilis, as well as

international treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

to ensure they are compliant with the constitution. Rulings on new laws are made prior to them being signed by the president.Section VI. The Constitutional Council
The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan The court also rules on election disputes.

Powers

* verify the correctness of the elections of the President of the Republic, deputies of parliament and the conducting of republican referendum *verify the compliance of the Constitution of laws adopted by the Parliament prior to their signing by the President *verify the compliance of the Constitution of decisions taken by the Parliament and its chambers *verify the compliance of the Constitution of International Contracts before their ratification *give the official interpretation of the norms of the Constitution *give conclusions when adopting amendments to the Constitution.

References

Government of Kazakhstan Judiciary of Kazakhstan

Constitutional law

Courts and tribunals established in 1995 1995 establishments in Kazakhstan {{asia-law-stub