Tokayev Signs Law on Priority of International Agreements

NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the amendments to the law on international agreements, reports the Akorda press service. 

President Tokayev. Photo credit: Akorda press service

The amendments determine the terms and conditions for international agreements on Kazakhstan. 

“The draft will ensure the inclusion of norms on the priority of ratified international treaties over the laws of Kazakhstan. It will also close a gap in the regulation of the procedure for termination of international treaties,” said Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi presenting the draft at the Senate, an upper chamber of the Kazakh Parliament, Feb. 25. 

It also protects the interests of Kazakhstan in its relations with other states and international organisations that fail to fulfil the obligations set out in agreements with the country. 

In case an agreement is violated by other states or international organisations, the nation will have a right to countermeasures in the form of termination of the international agreement. 

“Suspension of international treaties is a globally recognised rule of customary international law that allows a state to take measures to induce another state or international organisation to resume compliance with its international obligations. Such measures are referred to in international law as countermeasures,” the Kazakh Foreign Ministry explained in a comment for this story.

The ministry also said that the draft articles on the responsibility of states for wrongful acts internationally and the draft articles on responsibility for international organisations, which were developed by the United Nations International Law Commission, are a significant guide in this matter and constitute the result of an effort to codify and develop the international law of responsibility of states and international organisations for wrongful acts. 


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