Kazakhstan
Civil law
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Kazakhstan is a civil-law country. Its Civil Code of 1994 and 1999 is modelled on the model code for countries of the former Soviet Union, and its Constitution of 1995 has been revised, including a 2022 reform that created a Constitutional Court. The Astana International Financial Centre has its own English-language courts that follow common-law style.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
Where the law comes from
- The Constitution of 1995, as revised, the highest law
- Codes and statutes, such as the Civil Code, the Criminal Code and the procedure codes
- Decisions of the Supreme Court, which guide lower courts
- The rules of the Astana International Financial Centre, which are based on English common law
The main courts
- The Supreme Court at the top of the ordinary courts
- The Constitutional Court, which reviews laws
- Oblast and district courts, with specialised administrative and economic courts
Becoming a lawyer
A law degree and a state licence, with membership of a collegium of advocates.
What may surprise you
- A civil-law country has an English-law court in its financial centre.
- The Civil Code follows a common model that several former Soviet states used.
- A new Constitutional Court replaced an earlier Constitutional Council in 2023.
Related systems
How this country is classified
The University of Ottawa’s JuriGlobe database lists Kazakhstan as: Civil law. It names the systems in order of importance.
The map colours a country by the first-named system, and shows both civil-law and common-law countries as “mixed”. It is a simplification, and real systems are rarely pure.
Other countries in the same family
Sources
Sources last reviewed: October 2026.
TheLawToKnow Tools’s Legal Families Atlas is an educational overview. It simplifies on purpose, and it is not legal advice. For a real legal question about Kazakhstan, consult a lawyer qualified there. Report a mistake.
