Regulatory criminalization of illegal gambling business in Kazakhstan: Evolution of the criminal law prohibition and law enforcement statistics (2011-2025)
Palavras-chave:
Illegal Gambling Business, Regulatory Criminalization, Gambling Zones, Licensing Regime, Ludomania, Enforcement StatisticsResumo
The article analyzes the evolution of Kazakhstan’s criminal-law prohibition on organizing an illegal gambling business within the territorially zoned, licensing-based legalization model introduced by the 2007 Law on the Gambling Business. It combines doctrinal analysis of Articles 269-1 (2011) and 307 (2015) of the Criminal Code with a secondary analysis of national aggregated enforcement statistics (ERDR; Form No. 1-M) for 2012-2025 and triangulation with first-instance court statistics. Registrations are high in 2012-2019 and decline in 2020-2021. In 2022-2023, Form No. 1-M registrations collapse to near zero while completions and referrals to court persist, indicating a break in the comparability of the registration contour rather than the disappearance of enforcement. Registrations partially resume in 2024-2025 at a substantially lower level. Interpreted through the concept of regulatory criminalization, the prohibition functions primarily to protect the spatial and licensing perimeter of the legal market; objectives related to gambling dependence and property protection are pursued only indirectly. The article argues for a clearer differentiation between criminal and administrative responses, strengthened licensing and payment-infrastructure oversight, and a comprehensive prevention and treatment policy. Methodologically, it proposes a two-contour diagnostic that compares registration and judicial series to detect accounting and qualification effects.
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