Dualism of bankruptcy legislation of THE Republic of Kazakhstan: the limits of legal regulation of insolvency of legal entities and individuals

Abstract

This article examines the dualism of Kazakhstan’s bankruptcy legislation. Two separate acts regulate insolvency without a unified conceptual framework: the 2014 law governs legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, while the 2022 law regulates the restoration of solvency and bankruptcy of individuals. This division creates theoretical and practical challenges, including divergent principles and procedures, inconsistent application of legal provisions, and difficulties in judicial and administrative practice.

The study identifies the legal consequences of this dualistic model, assesses its effectiveness, and considers reforms informed by international experience. It uses comparative legal, formal legal, systemic, and historical comparative methods to examine Kazakhstan’s legislation alongside insolvency regulation in the United States, Germany, the European Union, and Russia.

The comparison shows that separate laws for different categories of debtors are not a widely adopted approach. Legislative fragmentation creates legal gaps, reduces certainty, and leaves individual entrepreneurs particularly vulnerable where the two regimes intersect. The findings support a coherent legal framework for insolvency. The article proposes a single codified bankruptcy law covering all categories of debtors. Before comprehensive codification, targeted amendments to existing laws could align key concepts and procedures, address the most significant inconsistencies, and improve the effectiveness of bankruptcy regulation in Kazakhstan. Such amendments would provide a practical transition toward unified regulation while preserving the specific procedures required for different debtor categories and improving consistency across courts and agencies.