Legal System of Kazakhstan

The legal system of Kazakhstan is influenced by the traditions of both Islamic law and Roman law.  Islamic law, which was in force up until early 1920, incorporated many norms of Adat, the local customary law consisting of traditional prescriptions of the peoples of the region.  The influence of Roman law came primarily from the theory and practice of Soviet law and socialist principles.

 Kazakh legislation is currently being codified.  Legislative and other normative legal acts can be categorized as constitutional, administrative, civil, criminal, labor-related, or other material or procedural laws. 

 A strict hierarchy of the sources of law includes:

·       The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

·       Constitutional  laws and decrees;

·       International treaties;

·       Codes and ordinary laws; and

·       other regulations, normative decrees, and so forth.

Electronic signature

An electronic signature, or e-signature, refers to data in electronic form, which is logically associated with other data in electronic form and which is used by the signatory to sign.[1][2][3] This type of signature provides the same legal standing as a handwritten signature as long as it adheres to the requirements of the specific regulation it was created under (e.g., eIDAS in the European Union, NIST-DSS in the USA or ZertES in Switzerland).[4][5]

Increasingly, digital signatures are used in e-commerce and in regulatory filings to implement electronic signature in a cryptographically protected way. Standardization agencies like NIST or ETSI provide standards for their implementation (e.g., NIST-DSS, XAdES or PAdES).[4][6] The concept itself is not new, with common law jurisdictions having recognized telegraph signatures as far back as the mid-19th century and faxed signatures since the 1980s.

An electronic signature is intended to provide a secure and accurate identification method for the signatory to provide a seamless transaction. Definitions of electronic signatures vary depending on the applicable jurisdiction. A common denominator in most countries is the level of an advanced electronic signature requiring that:

1. The signatory can be uniquely identified and linked to the signature

2. The signatory must have sole control of the private key that was used to create the electronic signature

3. The signature must be capable of identifying if its accompanying data has been tampered with after the message was signed

4. In the event that the accompanying data has been changed, the signature must be invalidated

Electronic signatures may be created with increasing levels of security, with each having its own set of requirements and means of creation on various levels that prove the validity of the signature. To provide an even stronger probative value than the above described advanced electronic signature, some countries like the European Union or Switzerland introduced the qualified electronic signature. It is difficult to challenge the authorship of a statement signed with a qualified electronic signature - the statement is non-reputable.[8] Technically, a qualified electronic signature is implemented through an advanced electronic signature that utilizes a digital certificate, which has been encrypted through a security signature-creating device [9] and which has been authenticated by a qualified trust service provider.[10]