On July 4, 2025, the press service of the newly created cassation courts (CC) provided an explanation of the reasons for their creation and the specifics of their work.
Since July 1, 2025, three cassation courts began working in Astana on the instructions of the head of state: for criminal, civil and administrative cases. The new courts are located in the capital.
“Until July 1 of this year, the functions of the cassation instance were carried out by the Supreme Court. Review of civil and criminal cases was carried out according to the principle of “selective” cassation. Its essence was that citizens’ petitions on civil cases were first received for preliminary consideration and the judge alone made a decision to transfer them for collegial consideration or refuse to transfer them,” the institution explained. In criminal cases, preliminary consideration was carried out collegially, by three judges. “But this procedure was also imperfect, which created a certain inconvenience for citizens,” the explanation says. There were no complaints regarding administrative cases, where, initially, with the introduction of administrative justice, a continuous cassation was in effect. That is, there was a different approach to review in cassation for the three types of legal proceedings. “This situation limited access to cassation review and, accordingly, did not meet the public’s demand for access to justice.
From July 1, 2025, preliminary consideration in criminal and civil cases was abolished,” the Constitutional Court reported. Cassation courts began to operate on the principle of “continuous cassation”. “Continuous” cassation differs, first of all, in the stage of accepting the case for proceedings. Now, all incoming complaints are accepted for proceedings and considered on the merits by a panel of at least three judges. The cassation court for administrative cases considers complaints against decisions of lower courts that have entered into legal force, in terms of the application of legal norms. It does not review the case on the merits, but checks whether the legal norms were correctly applied when making a decision.
In Kazakhstan, cassation courts were established as part of the judicial reform and hear cases on civil, criminal and administrative cases. The main task of the cassation court is to ensure uniform application and interpretation of legislation throughout the country. Unlike the courts of first and appellate instances, the cassation court does not re-evaluate evidence or establish the factual circumstances of the case. It checks how legally the decision of the lower court was made. Cassation appeal is an important stage of the judicial process, which allows you to correct mistakes made by lower courts and ensure compliance with the law.
The cassation court for administrative cases considers complaints against court decisions made in administrative cases, that is, disputes between citizens and government agencies.
On August 13, 2025, the first case on intellectual property was considered in the cassation court of Astana, where patent attorney Tagbergenova Modangul Marupovna won the case.
