On Wednesday, April 8, Lower Chamber of Parliament (Mazhilis) gave second reading approval to the draft law “On the procedure of organizing and conducting peaceful assemblies in Kazakhstan,” Toppress.kz correspondent reports.
One of the main novelties introduced in the legislation is the presumption in favor of holding assemblies.
This means that anything not expressly forbidden in law should be presumed to be permissible, and those assemblies can take place if there are no justified reasons to restrict or prohibit them, MP Kanat Musin said.
Article 14 of the draft law provides a comprehensive list of circumstances under which the right to assemble peacefully can be denied.
No other circumstances can entail the prohibition of peaceful assemblies, he stressed.
Peaceful assemblies are to be held at specific sites that are determined by local representative bodies. They should be located in the central parts of the cities and villages, providing a chance for the organizers and participants to achieve their goal, use the site’s infrastructure in compliance with sanitary norms and rules and ensure safety of all the participants.
A notification procedure has been introduced for holding peaceful assemblies in the form of rallies, meetings and picketings. Depending on the type of assembly, specific deadline is given for the organizers to notify the authorities.
Upon receipt of a notification, local executive authorities should provide response within three working days and in case of approval ensure public order and safety of the participants.
The draft law was sent to the Senate for further consideration.
