How Can a Foreign Lawyer Practise in Kazakhstan?

1. Employment under an Employment Contract

A foreign lawyer may be employed as part of the staff of a Kazakhstani company as a legal counsel, or, being a lawyer of a foreign company, may participate in court proceedings.

Pursuant to subparagraph 2 of part 1 of Article 58 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, representatives by authorisation in court may include employees of legal entities in cases involving those legal entities, or in cases involving other legal entities, provided that such legal entities are under the control (direct or indirect) of the same person.

2. Admission to a Chamber of Legal Consultants

There are two legal professions in Kazakhstan: advocates and legal consultants. While only citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan may qualify as advocates, foreign nationals may qualify as legal consultants. The key requirement is admission to one of the chambers of legal consultants.

To be admitted to such a chamber, it is necessary to confirm at least two years of professional experience in a legal specialty and to undergo certification. Each chamber independently approves its certification rules. In many chambers, the certification may be completed online.

By way of example, in the chamber of which I was previously a member, it was sufficient to submit the following documents by email:

1. A copy of the document confirming higher legal education.
2. A certificate confirming the absence of a criminal record (issued no earlier than one month prior to submission of the documents).
3. A certificate confirming the absence of registration with a psychoneurological organization.
4. Certificate confirming the absence of registration with a narcological organization
5. Documents confirming at least two years of professional experience in a legal specialty (a copy of the employment record book or a certificate from the employer)
6. A 3 × 4 photograph in electronic format
7. Receipt confirming payment of the membership fee (two monthly calculation indices (MCI); in 2024, one MCI amounts to 3,692 tenge).

The chamber then sends links to complete the online testing. Three attempts are provided. Some chambers require both passing the test and completing an interview.

After admission to the chamber, it is necessary to insure one’s professional activity (on average, the cost is 10,000 tenge per year) and to pay monthly membership fees (on average, two monthly calculation indices (MCI)).

The status of a legal consultant confers the following rights:
1. To provide legal services to individuals and legal entities.
2. To act as a representative in civil courts.
3. To act as a representative of a victim in criminal proceedings. Amendments are currently under discussion under which only advocates would be permitted to act as representatives of victims.
4. To represent the interests of legal entities or victims in investigative courts.
5. To act as a representative of a legal entity and an individual entrepreneur in cases concerning administrative offenses.
6. To act as representatives of individuals before the Constitutional Court.
7. To defend persons in criminal court proceedings where a civil claim has been filed in the case. In such instances, the lawyer acquires the status of a representative of the civil defendant, who is vested with all the rights of a defense counsel. This is possible only at the stage of judicial proceedings. During the investigation stage, only advocates may defend a suspect. In general, the status of a representative of a civil defendant is not applied very frequently in court practice.