Head of the Department – Nuraden Yelemesovich Kalbayev, Candidate of Legal Sciences and Associate Professor.

The teaching staff of the Department of Legal Disciplines strives to provide students with sound knowledge and develop a clear civic position based on the moral values of honour and dignity, which are fundamental to the legal profession. Ensuring a high standard of student education is the Department’s primary priority.

The Department of Legal Disciplines is one of the principal departments of A.K. Kussayinov EAGI. It has been training legal professionals since September 1999. From the very beginning of its work, the Department has paid particular attention to the quality of student education.

Experienced and highly qualified lecturers N.E. Kalbayev, K.Zh. Baltabayev, Yu.N. Drokin, E.V. Krushinskaya, K.S. Kaldybayev, A.K. Zhantayeva, G.E. Musynova and A.S. Abeldinov conduct classes to a high academic and methodological standard.

Interactive methods are used alongside traditional forms of instruction when teaching specialized courses such as Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure and Civil Law and Civil Procedure. Classes are also conducted in the form of mock court hearings, which helps foster students’ interest in the subjects studied and in their future profession.

Highly qualified practising lawyers from national state-owned enterprises and institutions are involved in teaching to support the professional training of specialists and the development of their practical skills.

Today, the Department of Legal Disciplines is a cohesive team united by a common purpose and its own established traditions. Its staff includes highly qualified specialists: Doctors of Sciences, professors, Candidates of Sciences, associate professors, holders of master’s degrees and senior lecturers. Leading legal scholars of Kazakhstan are invited to deliver lectures.

The Department’s teaching staff continuously works to improve the quality of professional training. Various teaching methods are applied during lectures and seminars, including:

• solving case-based problems;
• business simulations and role-playing;
• working in small groups;
• modelling investigative actions;
• legal analysis;
• student mock trials;
• using the Virtual Criminalist educational and methodological package.

To improve and intensify the educational process, the Department’s staff uses materials from the regularly updated Paragraph information system, the Zan Centre of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the ministries of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Textbooks, study guides, monographs and research articles written by the Department’s lecturers Kh.A. Abishev, K.Zh. Baltabayev, K.Z. Idrisov, A.Sh. Akkulev, E.Zh. Zhumabayev and G.E. Musynova are in high demand among students.

Student research is an important factor in improving the quality of professional training. Future lawyers actively participate in the Institute’s traditional Science and the New Generation conference. The best papers are published in the conference proceedings.

Students supplement their extensive theoretical knowledge with practical skills. To support this objective, cooperation agreements have been concluded that provide students with opportunities to undertake professional placements at law enforcement agencies in Astana and throughout the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Students recognize the significant practical value of placements at courts, notary offices, the Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office. Positive references and letters of appreciation from the host organizations demonstrate the quality of these placements.

The work of the Department’s staff has been recognized with state and public awards.

Professors Kh.A. Abishev and K.Zh. Baltabayev have been awarded the Order of Qurmet. Associate Professor K.S. Kaldybayev has been awarded the commemorative medal marking the 10th Anniversary of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

In recognition of their high professional competence, Professor K.M. Mukazhanov, Associate Professors Yu.N. Drokin and E.V. Krushinskaya, and Senior Lecturers G.E. Musynova and A.S. Abeldinov have received the Teacher-Researcher and Innovative Teacher badges from the Kazakh Academy of Education Public Association.

The Department’s priority development objectives include:

• further development of its educational, methodological, material and technical resources;
• improvement and implementation of innovative educational technologies;
• improvement of the professional competence of the teaching staff;
• expansion of research and educational work.

The Department’s principal mission is to meet the needs of the state, business organizations, the professional legal education system and legal scholarship for highly qualified specialists in civil and criminal procedure. It also provides academic and legal support for the legislative process and legal practice.

The Department’s strategic development areas are:

1. Improving the quality of training for specialists with higher and postgraduate education in the Department’s fields.
2. Increasing the effectiveness of the Department’s research activities.
3. Improving social and educational work with students within the framework of the “Law and Order” ideology.