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On October 25, 1990, the resolution of the Supreme Council of the Kazakh SSR of the XII convocation adopted a historical document - the Declaration "On state sovereignty of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic". It was the legal beginning of Kazakhstan's movement towards true independence.
In connection with the increasing processes of disintegration in the USSR, on April 24, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Kazakh SSR adopted the Law "On establishing the post of President of the Kazakh SSR and making amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR" in order to fundamentally change the country's governance. The introduction of the institution of presidential power was the first serious step of Kazakhstan as a union republic within the Soviet Union to real sovereignty. On the same day, the Supreme Council elected NursultanAbishevichNazarbayev, who at that time held the position of First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR, to the post of President of the Kazakh SSR on an uncontested basis.
One of the first actions of N. Nazarbayev as President of the Kazakh SSR was the creation of the Declaration "On state sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR".
The drafting of the document, which became the forerunner of the formalization of the full state independence of Kazakhstan, took place in the context of the economic and political chaos that prevailed in the Soviet empire. As is well known, the leadership of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR has been extremely slow in Kazakhstan’s adoption of the Declaration on state sovereignty, so that the elaboration of this political and legal document, which was fateful for the people of Kazakhstan, became an act of civil courage.
On October 16, 1990, ten days before the Declaration was announced, President of the Kazakh SSR, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR N. Nazarbayev took part in a meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR of the 12th convocation. In his speech on the draft Declaration "On state sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR", he said: "... we cannot agree with those who want to remove from the Declaration not only the issue of national statehood in the Republic, but also the words about the Kazakh people. We risk being misunderstood by the Kazakh people, who in this case will be put in an unequal position with other nations of the USSR. Take any of the similar declarations of the union republics - everywhere there is a provision on national statehood. It is politically incorrect to remove this thesis from our document only on the grounds that the number of the Kazakh population on the territory of the Republic is not predominant. The Kazakh people, who throughout their history have proved their commitment to the ideas of internationalism, did not deserve such an attitude. Just like any other people."
On the same day, at the evening plenary session of the second session of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR of the 12th convocation, N. Nazarbayev took an active part in the clause-by-clause consideration of the revised draft Declaration.
In the roll-call voting, 261 deputies voted in favor of the document, 18 against, 2 abstentions, and one did not vote. According to the results of the vote, the Supreme Council adopted the Declaration "On state sovereignty of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic" as a whole.
The Declaration adopted consisted of 17 paragraphs. The Declaration for the first time proclaimed the status of the Kazakh SSR as a sovereign State, which voluntarily unites with other sovereign republics in an alliance and establishes relations with them on a treaty basis.
For the first time in the country’s history, the establishment of a democratic state based on the rule of law was proclaimed as the goal of the country’s development, thereby laying the foundations for the formation of the civil society. For the first time in the normative legal act of the socialist state, there was no class approach to defining the basis of the state and the concepts of "workers", "peasants" and "intelligentsia" were excluded.
In the Declaration, the people of Kazakhstan were declared the only bearer of sovereignty and the source of state power in the Kazakh SSR. In turn, the people of Kazakhstan were citizens of the republic of all nationalities.
The Declaration reflected the desire to create decent and equal living conditions for all citizens of the Republic, laid down the principles of environmental safety, prohibiting the activities and functioning of objects that are sources of environmental danger.
The Declaration established one of the most important tasks of the Kazakh SSR – protection and strengthening of national statehood, revival and development of original culture, traditions, language and strengthening of national dignity of the Kazakh nation and other nationalities living in Kazakhstan.
The territory of the Kazakh SSR was declared indivisible and inviolable and could not be used without its consent.
For the first time, the Declaration established the supremacy of state power, its independence and completeness within the Republic, as well as in foreign relations, and the right to suspend acts of the Supreme bodies of the USSR that violate the sovereign rights of the Republic on its territory.
The principle of dividing state power into legislative, executive and judicial branches was proclaimed. The President of the Kazakh SSR was the head of the Republic and had the highest administrative and executive power. Legislative power was exercised by the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR, and supreme judicial power was vested in the Supreme Court of the Kazakh SSR.
The Declaration also defined for the first time the key state-legal norms of constitutional significance:
- the principle of the supremacy of the Constitution and laws of the Kazakh SSR on the territory of the Kazakh SSR (article 8);
- the principle of exclusive ownership of the Kazakh SSR for all national wealth available on its territory, which is the basis of the sovereignty of the Republic (article 9);
- the right of the Kazakh SSR to act as an independent subject of international relations and independently determine foreign policy in its own interests (article 14).
The Declaration enshrined all the attributes of Kazakhstan's state sovereignty: its own territory and citizenship, civil and national equality, supremacy, independence and fullness of state power within the Republic, the supremacy of the national Constitution and laws, a variety of forms of ownership, its own state budget and financial and credit system, the right to its own internal troops, state security and internal affairs bodies, the right of an independent subject of international relations, as well as the presence of symbols of state sovereignty - national emblem, flag, and anthem.
The Declaration "On state sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR" became the first act of constitutional significance in the modern national history, which defined Kazakhstan as an independent, sovereign state. It initiated the process of forming a sovereign Kazakh statehood and served as the basis for the creation of national legislation.
On December 16, 1991, the constitutional law "On state independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was adopted on the basis of the principles of the Declaration. The date of adoption of the constitutional law in Kazakhstan is marked as "Independence Day".
The Declaration "On state sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR" of October 25, 1990, along with the Constitutional law "On state independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" of December 16, 1991, laid the constitutional and legal foundation of the newly independent state and was the fundamental legislative act on the way to formalizing the state independence of Kazakhstan.
The main State-legal and socio-political ideas embodied therein were reflected in the Constitutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993 and 1995 and in the legislative acts implementing the status of the Republic as a sovereign state.