The Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic on December 10, 2025 reviewed the president’s motion requesting a legal opinion on the draft law «On Amendments to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic,» which proposes the possibility of applying the death penalty for child rape and murder accompanied by rape. The Court’s press service reported.
According to the report, the Constitutional Court assessed the compatibility of the proposed amendments with the Constitution as an integrated system, their impact on the foundations of the constitutional order—centered on fundamental human rights and freedoms and the democratic nature of the state—as well as their consistency with Kyrgyzstan’s international obligations arising from ratified treaties.
«The Constitution enshrines human rights and freedoms as the highest value, and the system of guarantees for their protection forms the foundation of the constitutional order and predetermines the limits of permissible amendments to the Basic Law. In this regard, the Constitutional Court emphasized that any changes to the Basic Law in the area of fundamental rights and freedoms require consideration of their systemic nature and the potential consequences for the functioning of the entire constitutional model for protecting the individual. Particular attention must be paid to preventing non-regression of the level of guarantees of rights and freedoms, since it is their stability and consistency that constitute the constitutionally enshrined priority of the individual and his or her dignity,» the statement reads.
In this context, the constitutional review body proceeds from the premise that the prohibition of the death penalty and recognition of the priority of the right to life have not only a normative but also a fundamental value dimension.
«The Constitutional Court also noted the international legal dimension of the issue under consideration. The Basic Law of the Kyrgyz Republic, establishing that generally recognized principles and norms of international law are an integral part of the country’s legal system, presupposes the need to comply with relevant international obligations when making decisions at the national level. According to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a state may not invoke the provisions of its domestic law as justification for failure to perform a treaty, and its termination or suspension is possible only in strictly defined cases,» the Constitutional Court added.
Based on a combination of constitutional and international legal arguments, the Constitutional Court concluded that reinstating the death penalty through a constitutional amendment is inconsistent with the Basic Law, is unacceptable, and legally impossible.
Consequently, the draft law «On Amendments to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic» cannot be submitted to a referendum, and all procedures for implementing the initiative for its adoption are subject to termination upon the entry into force of the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
President Sadyr Japarov himself previously proposed reinstating the death penalty for particularly serious crimes against children and women. The reason for this was the murder of 17-year-old Aisuluu Mukasheva, who was abducted and raped on September 27. This tragedy has sparked widespread public outcry.
Amendments to the Constitution providing for the reinstatement of the death penalty have been submitted for public discussion. The Kyrgyz Republic also plans to withdraw its ratification of the UN Protocol on the Abolition of the Death Penalty.
