“Concerning court’s status”

Almaty city Financial court has been established on August 17th, 2008 with equal status to regional courts. According to the legislation, this court is authorized to consider civil disputes of the participants of Regional Financial Centre of Almaty.
Necessity for formation of specialized financial court has been dictated by several circumstances. First of all, in Regional Financial Center of Almaty representing a special mode, adjusting mutual relations of participants of the financial center and all interested parties. Directed for the development of the financial market in Kazakhstan, with the purposes of development of securities market, maintenance of its integration with the international markets of the capital, attraction of investments into economy of our country and an output of the Kazakhstan market on foreign securities markets has been created.
Transformation of Almaty into large regional center of financial, banking, trading and other business activities not only in the Central-Asian region, but also in all Asia is one of the priorities presented in the message of the President to the people of Republic, which known as «Strategy of joining of Kazakhstan to world’s 50 most developed countries». By now more than hundred companies operate on RFCA trading platform and they received the status accredited participants of the center.
Arising in the specified spheres of business activity civil disputes have the certain specificity demanding more detailed, profound studying of the legislation, concerning, first of all, corporate conflicts, which is conflicts of interests. Such disputes demand the fast and operative sanctions. Council of foreign investors played an important role in establishment of this court which should operatively consider disputes between RFCA participants.
Of course there have been many skeptics considering that this new judicial body will not serve its purpose, especially in the first year of its existence when nobody was addressing their issues to the court. Meanwhile in 2007 many judges of the Financial court actively participated in numerous educational, scientifically and practically important conferences, and many seminars openly cooperating with mass media units publishing information about civil law and problems in judiciary practice. They have also gone through qualification trainings in England, USA, Austria and Korea.    
Since January 2008 already 13 claims have been applied to the court and judicial acts have been opened. Decisions are left by the appeal judicial instance of the country without change. Moreover, as it has already been noted above all of them had no precedents in the country. Before many appeal instances of Financial courts went to Supreme Court of Republic of Kazakhstan.   
It is necessary to note that training abroad was reflected by positive image in work of the financial court. The participants of the civil cases considered in financial court mark openness, objectivity, granting parties equal opportunities. During pre-judicial preparation within the limits of the reasonable term judges suggest the parties to make an obligatory exchange of proofs, etc.
Unfortunately in spite of the fact that the financial court possessing the status equal to regional court, has proved the solvency and legitimacy of its formation, among some lawyers there is a misunderstanding of the role and value of this judicial body and they offer to decrease the status of the Financial court.
In case of decrease in the status of financial court to a level of district court (inter-district economic court), the necessity for formation of financial court disappears as their functions can be easy and without serious consequences absorbed by the same economic courts.
Some influential Kazakhstan analysts suggest changing the status of Financial court by giving to it the status of international, like the London commercial court or courts of Dubai of the international Financial Center. It means the creation of the international arbitration court deduced from the general uniform judicial system. It is torn off from the reality as for this purpose it is necessary to change the Constitution. The bases are not available.
The expediency of formation and existence of specialized financial court, in our opinion, does not cause doubts any more. According to the concept it is offered to leave the Supreme Court only with the functions of judicial supervision. But in that case decisions of financial court would come into force from the moment of announcement, which basically is not correct. In our opinion it is possible to form the cassation board in the financial court, as in Dubai.