The Legal Status of Religious Expertise Conclusions in Kazakhstan and Mechanisms for Ensuring Their Quality

Abstract

The protection of the country’s citizens’ spiritual security constitutes one of the priority areas of state policy in the field of religious affairs. Religious studies expertise is an effective tool in combating the spread of extremist ideas and illegal content. The article analyzes the legal status of religious expertise conclusions in Kazakhstan and the mechanisms for ensuring their quality. Special attention is given to the relationship between the scientific basis of the expert conclusions and their practical influence on the adoption of administrative decisions. The study is based on formal-legal, systemic, functional, and comparative legal methods. The article examines the approaches to organizing religious expertise in Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan with the aim of identifying best practices that may be adapted to improve quality assurance of domestic mechanisms. The authors conclude that the current legislation enables a distinction between the legal status of the religious expertise conclusion, the notification letter conveying its content to the applicant, and the administrative act adopted by the competent authority based on the results of the expert assessment. The advisory status of the report should be maintained, but its influence on administrative decisions requires verifiable quality assurance. Therefore, the authors propose a three-tiered model: a uniform standard for substantiating the report, independent scientific peer review of complex cases with significant legal consequences, and systemic development and assessment of the expert’s competence. It is proposed to test these mechanisms on a pilot basis and subsequently incorporate the effective elements into legislative acts.