The deputy noted in his inquiry that the issue of non-fulfillment of court decisions and presidential directives regarding the return of land is not being raised for the first time.
“A significant and painful problem is the non-fulfillment of court rulings. For instance, a land plot belonging to the treasury named after Al-Farabi was illegally alienated. Despite the decision of the SMES for the city of Almaty on April 9, 2023, which declared the title documents for the land plot invalid where a multi-story business center with cadastral number 009029 is built, the court's ruling is not being executed. The land plot has not been returned to state ownership. The business center has not been demolished.
A similar situation exists regarding the apple orchards in Remezovka, where the SMES decision on January 13, 2021, and the Almaty city court ruling on December 25, 2023, regarding the annulment of changes in the purpose of the land plots and the sales contract are not being enforced. The apple orchards have been legally returned to the state by court ruling, but they are still in the hands of private individuals and legal entities,” said the deputy.
According to him, in Almaty alone, out of 86 lawsuits regarding the demolition of illegally constructed residential buildings, the court upheld 59 cases, but the justice authorities and enforcement agencies are deliberately delaying the execution of court decisions, artificially creating obstacles for their implementation.
“Take the practice of non-fulfillment of judicial acts in Shymkent, where the SMES Shymkent decisions on May 17, 2023, and July 13, 2023, recognized the annulment of all mayoral decrees of Shymkent regarding the provision of a land plot to the SPK ‘Shymkent’ and the sales contract between the SPK and the construction company ‘Montazhstroy’, as well as the SPK and ‘Hyundai Center’, where a multi-story residential building and ‘Hyundai Center’ were constructed.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the court's decision has come into force, no one intends to execute it, and no one plans to demolish the illegally constructed multi-story residential building and ‘Hyundai Center’,” Bakhytzhan Bazarbek cited as examples.
He stated that officials are trying to solve the problem by bypassing the court's decision.
“Officials are conducting negotiations behind closed doors, aimed at gently and without damage circumventing the execution of court rulings,” the deputy noted.
In the capital, he adds, the situation is similar.
“In Astana, court documents have been annulled regarding land rights for many large facilities, particularly for the multi-level parking lot, according to the SMES decision from June 14, 2023, for the residential complex ‘Washington’ by the SMES decision from October 28, 2022, and for the residential complex Central Square by the SMES decision from January 25, 2024. These decisions are not being executed,” said the deputy.
Currently, there is a significant number of residential complexes and business centers for which land rights have been annulled by the court, yet the judicial acts remain unfulfilled. Hundreds of court decisions and over 900 cases of illegal land allocation remain unresolved issues.
This leads to a deepening crisis of public trust in the judicial system and the decisions made. Urgent measures are needed to rectify this situation and restore citizens' trust.
Based on the above, he requested the General Prosecutor's Office to:
- Issue a representation to the Ministry of Justice regarding the execution of court decisions addressed to the Ministry of Industry and Construction concerning the issuance of an order for the demolition of illegally constructed residential and industrial facilities and those recognized as illegal by the court.
- Many have said that you are returning lands, but not returning them from major owners like General Novikov. Ultimately, I want to clarify this situation.
Bakhytzhan Bazarbek spoke about one specific lawsuit. The Specialized Interdistrict Economic Court of Almaty upheld the city's prosecutor's lawsuit to annul the mayor's decree of the Karasai district No. 6957 dated June 7, 2004.
The essence of the lawsuit was that the Karasai district akimat transferred a land plot, including the foothills of the Ile-Alatau, mountain ranges, forests, and water resources, into private ownership to the International Association of Clubs.
“The prosecutor's lawsuit was filed in execution of my deputy request, where I clearly and explicitly set forth requirements to the General Prosecutor's Office for conducting checks on the legality of the land plot allocation based on this decree.
The General Prosecutor's Office instructed the city prosecutor's office, and accordingly, within the framework of the Republican Land Commission, Roman Te and the prosecutor's office conducted the relevant checks,” the deputy noted.
He emphasizes that the final return of this land plot will be formalized by a court decision. However, it is necessary to think about the future.
“After the return of General Novikov's land plots, all these lands should be included in the GNPP or the Altai National Natural Park with the status of a nature protection institution.
We must not allow that in 3, 4, 5, or perhaps even 7 years, the indicated land plots will be further alienated to local oligarchs, developers, and these territories will be built up, as this territory is unique.
Secondly, we must do everything possible to protect the rights and legal interests of the apple growers, who present this problem on social networks as if it is a raiding by the prosecutor's office, and they are taking these land plots from the apple growers. No one is taking these land plots from the apple growers. We are reclaiming and conducting checks on the legality of land allocations. We are reclaiming the lands of General Novikov. Naturally, after the return of these land plots to state ownership, the rights of the apple growers must be protected.
I hope that within the framework of the Republican Land Commission Romanty we will take this situation under special control,” concluded deputy Bakhytzhan Bazarbek.