COMMON LAW, CIVILIAN LEGAL SYSTEMS AND MIXED LEGAL SYSTEMS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH LAW IN KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

 Kazakhstan currently experiences a turning point in its legal history: elements deriving of a common law system are to be implemented into the national legal system which has its roots in the civilian legal tradition. This move might mean that Kazakhstan is on the verge of becoming one of the ‘mixed legal systems’ which are a hybrid form of legal system at the intersection of common law and civil law. In order to shed light on what this implementation of elements of English law might mean for the Kazakhstan legal landscape, a brief overview of the typical characteristics of common law systems, civilian legal systems and – the rather rare – hybrid of mixed legal systems is presented. In addition, various ways in which elements of English law might be implemented in Kazakhstan are discussed.