The English-language version of Kazakhstan's Criminal Code specifies a punishment of up to 120 years of community service for insult. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The error in the text published in the legal system "Әділет" was noticed by the Telegram channel HALYQSTAN. In the Kazakh and Russian versions of the code, the reference is to 120 hours.
According to the channel, the English translation of the article on indecent humiliation of honor and dignity provides for a fine of up to 120 MCI or community service of up to 120 years. The discrepancy was discovered after a foreign citizen approached lawyer Abai Uruzbayev.
According to the lawyer, his client — a US citizen and investor in a large company — quarreled with another person and insulted him. The man does not speak Kazakh or Russian, so he opened the English version of the code on the official website. Seeing the term indicated there, he sought legal help.
"I had to spend a long time convincing him that people don't live that long and that he shouldn't fear such a long term," Uruzbayev said.
The lawyer believes that the error on the official legal resource is not merely a curiosity. Foreigners who work in Kazakhstan may use the English version of laws to assess the legal conditions for their activities.
"Investors are not foolish people, and they evaluate a state not only by beautiful presentations. They read laws carefully. If the official legal resource offers them an English text of the Criminal Code, then it also becomes part of Kazakhstan's international image," the lawyer noted.
HALYQSTAN wonders whether similar inaccuracies may remain in English translations of other legal acts.
Earlier, "Kursiv" wrote that a resident of Semey was arrested for five days after a TikTok live stream during which she used obscene language. The court found the woman guilty of petty hooliganism.