On December 16, 1991 The Supreme Council declared the independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A new stage in the history of the Republic began. The process of a new State formation started. The special stage of this process was the adoption of the Constitutional Law «On the Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan» dated from December 16, 1991. While developing the key ideas of the Declaration of State Sovereignty, the Constitutional Law defined that Kazakhstan will build its relations with the foreign countries on the principles of international law, as it befits to the independent State. A single Kazakhstani citizenship was established for the first time. Moreover, the Declaration legitimized the diversity of forms of ownership as well as the concept of separation of State powers between the legislative, executive and judicial powers, and also the political course of the State towards an independent economic system with its financial, credit, tax and customs policy. In order to protect the independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Constitutional Law for the first time provided the possibility of creation of the armed forces. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan was recognized as the supreme organ of judicial protection of the Constitution, and it was a new concept compared with the previous standards of the Declaration. In essence, this Law became the Interim Constitution of Kazakhstan’s independence at the legislative stage of its sovereignty, but, only de jure. It was mainly because the provisions of the Constitution of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1978) as well as other legislative acts were remained in force within the territory of the Republic as they do not contradict with the constitutional law of December 16, 1991. Subsequently, its content was used as the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1993). During the Ashgabat meeting, the leaders of the Republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan evaluated the Belovezhsk Agreement as well as the legal aspects of the problem, and expressed their willingness to participate in the formation of the new state.
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