On 27 July 2021, the Council of Europe Economic Crime and Cooperation Division hosted a Webinar on improving the legal framework on conflict of interest for the Anti-Corruption Agency of Kazakhstan (ACA). Representatives from ACA in Nur-Sultan and 14 regional offices attended the event.

The Webinar aimed to present the results of the review of the legislative and institutional framework as well as the draft amendments and recommendations for improvement of conflict of interest prevention and resolution.

The Webinar provided an opportunity for the participants to discuss the identified challenges and some key recommendations, such as: the need to issue special guidelines on conflict of interest, incompatibilities, gifts and post-employment prohibitions; considering the adoption of a single law where all anti-corruption elements and measures would be defined; refining the definition of ‘conflict of interest’ and ‘related persons’ and introduce the definition for ‘private interest’; considering narrowing the definition of persons who are obliged to respect provisions on conflict of interest; defining in the law the centralised competent authority for the implementation and supervision of provisions on conflict of interest; considering introducing mandatory declaration of interests and concrete sanctions.

In addition, the Webinar provided ACA employees with the opportunity to increase their knowledge on Council of Europe and other international standards on conflict of interest prevention and resolution.

This activity was organised by the project on “Promoting Transparency and Action against Economic Crime”, in the framework of the Central Asia Rule of Law Programme 2020-2023, a joint initiative co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe. The project is aimed at strengthening capacities to fight and prevent economic crime in five Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan.