I. Public authorities for MLA
According to general rules established in the CCP there are two public authorities for MLA in criminal law matters depending on the nature of the action sought by the requesting state (Art. 523 Par. 1 CCP). For inquiry actions the request is to be sent to the Attorney General of the Republic of Kazakhstan. As far as judicial actions are concerned, the Ministry of Justice is in charge of the necessary exchange of documents. In the absence of more specific rules in a bilateral or multilateral treaty this general rule will apply.
II. Bilateral treaties
Most bilateral agreements determine the central authorities for MLA and even regulate some aspects of asset recovery mechanisms. For example, according to the art 15 of the bilateral agreement with Canada, it is the State Attorney General of the Republic of Kazakhstan who is in charge of transferring MLA requests to and from the foreign authorities. Art. 13 of the agreement stipulates that each party must take all measures as to assure that all illicitly obtained assets are being frozen and are made available for further confiscation. However parties will agree separately in each individual case about the transfer of such property to the requesting State.
