Since Kazakhstan's criminal cassation courts began operating, 22 people have been fully acquitted, with their convictions overturned on exonerating grounds. Judge Inna Karkada of the Cassation Court for Criminal Cases announced this at a briefing, as reported by infohub.kz.
The judge noted that the cassation courts have been operating since July 1, 2025. During this period, they have reviewed 2,000 criminal cases involving 2,848 people. "In 2025, during the court's first six months, an average of 83 criminal cases were reviewed per month. In 2026, we are reviewing twice as many each month—statistics show that 168 criminal cases undergo cassation review every month. What does this indicate? We believe one factor is growing public trust—more complaints are being filed. This is also evidenced by the statistics on adjustments to judicial acts: the number of overturned and modified judicial acts is increasing. On average, every fourth judicial act is overturned or modified through cassation," she said.
According to her, such decisions affected 923 people—roughly one in three whose criminal cases were reviewed in cassation. "There have been cases of convictions being overturned with proceedings terminated—throughout our work, the cassation court has overturned convictions and terminated proceedings on exonerating grounds for 22 people. Exonerating grounds mean that the person is considered innocent," the judge explained.
Her colleague Azamat Tlepov added that in such cases, a person has the right to seek compensation from the state. "We have made a final decision; we have said they are not guilty. This is our final judicial act. On its basis, according to the Criminal Procedure Code, they have the right to go to court. They are paid a certain amount from the budget based on their claims. If the person was in custody, the amount is higher; if not, it is lower," the speaker summarized.
Also, according to the judge, if the court determines that a person was convicted as a result of "negligent, unscrupulous, superficial handling of the case, or violation of certain legal requirements," a private ruling is issued against the criminal prosecution body—the investigator and the prosecutor who supervised the case and sent it to court. The Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs take measures against these individuals.