KAZAKHSTAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Arman Bigazin, Mikhail Abdulov, Olzhas Abubakirov and Lidiya Sayenko, Haller Lomax LLP
the company involved. Typically, these consequences apply when there are multiple violations within a year. Criminal Liability For more on criminal liability, refer to 5.1 Key Types of Liability .
violations. Both individuals and legal entities can be subject to administrative liability. Criminal Liability The Criminal Code specifies a number of criminal acts that involve a violation of environmental requirements and are associated with certain serious consequences (death, personal injuries, mass disease, environmental catastrophe, mass wildlife deaths, other environmen- tal damage and so on). Criminal liability may entail the imposition of a fine, community service, impris- onment, restraint, or deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities. Only individuals can be held criminally liable in Kazakhstan. 5.2 Liability for Historical Environmental Incidents or Damage The Environmental Code specifically regulates cases of historical environmental pollution or damage. The civil liability for remediation of environmental damage will be borne by the infringer or its legal successor(s). If the infringer or its legal successors cannot be iden- tified or have ceased to exist, the civil liability will be shifted to the person who was the landowner at the time the wrongdoing was committed or stopped being committed. The current landowner can bear civil liabil- ity if the MENR can prove in court that, at the time of acquiring the rights to the specified land plot, such landowner was aware of the presence of environmen- tal damage caused by actions or activities previously carried out on this land plot. Criminal and administra- tive liability cannot be shifted to other persons. 5.3 Key Defences The defences, limits and conditions to applicable liability may include the following. Statutes of limitation apply as follows: • civil liability (remediation of environmental damage) – 30 years; • civil liability (death, personal injury, property dam- age) – three years; • administrative liability – one year for individuals, three years for legal entities; and • criminal liability – depends on the gravity of the offence.
5. Environmental Liability 5.1 Key Types of Liability
Causing environmental damage or committing a vio- lation of environmental legislation may entail civil, administrative and/or criminal liability, depending on the circumstances. Civil Liability In the environmental sphere, civil liability arises in con- nection with civil claims, which can be divided into three categories: • a claim submitted by the MENR for remediation of environmental damage (either to make the infringer remediate the environmental damage at their own cost or to compensate the cost of remediation performed by the state); • a claim submitted by individuals to compensate for death or personal injuries caused by environmental damage or other violation of environmental legisla- tion; and • a claim submitted by individuals or legal entities to compensate for property damage caused by environmental damage or other violation of envi- ronmental legislation. Persons subject to administrative or criminal liability are not exempt from civil liability and the obligation to eliminate the breach. Administrative Liability Administrative liability mainly entails warnings, fines, the recall of environmental permits, or suspension of activities. The Code on Administrative Violations pre- scribes administrative liability for a number of viola- tions in the environmental field, including operation of a facility without an environmental permit, exceeding the emissions limits, unauthorised waste dumping, failure to remediate environmental damage, and other
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