A biy’s court and a council of elders as a historical prerequisite for mediation in Kazakhstan

Abstract

In Kazakh history, there was a tradition of solving various conflicts in society with the help of the biys and a council of elders. These types of government institutions were the most accessible to the people. Their activities were based on the ideology of justice, humanity, and its ultimate goal was to reconcile the disputing parties and lead them to peace. It was every biy’s and elder’s sacred duty to show full justice to the disputing parties during the settlement of the case. "The ideal of conflict is peace" was found to be one of the main principles underlying the court of biys in nomadic Kazakh society. This, in turn, is one of the main tasks of mediation in modern Kazakhstan. The article attempts to identify the historical continuity of modern mediation and two traditional institutions (the court of biys and the council of elders) with peacemaking and reconciliation activities. A review of the writings of various scholars and historical archive materials was made to determine the court of biys and the activities of biys aimed at peacemaking and reconciliation. The specifics of the activities of the сcouncil of еlders, which is one of the oldest institutions in the traditional Kazakh society, were also identified. The principal avenues for the revitalisation and modernisation of traditional institutions in the context of the Republic of Kazakhstan's current developmental trajectory have been identified.