The Status of International Treaties in the Republic of Kazakhstan: Retrospective and Present Stage

Abstract

The article considers the status of international treaties in the legal system of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the evolution of its constitutional regulation throughout the entire period of independence. The relevance of the study stems from the removal, in the 2026 Constitution, of the provision on the priority of international treaties over laws, since this change has given rise to differing opinions regarding its actual causes and consequences. The aim of the study is to determine whether this change is of a fundamental nature or preserves the previous approach. To this end, applying the formal-legal method, the texts of the 1993, 1995, and 2026 constitutions, the normative resolutions of the Constitutional Council, and foreign experience are analysed comparatively. The analysis shows that the status of international treaties, despite the outward stability of the relevant provision, has changed consistently: its regulation has gradually shifted from the level of direct constitutional entrenchment to the level of legislation. The author assesses the 2026 change not as an abandonment of priority, but as a transfer of its entrenchment to the level of law. At the same time, such a change is not neutral: the level of normative protection of the priority guarantee decreases, which constitutes a separate subject for further research.