The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area continue to play in the entire judicial process, which results in a very low number of acquittals, around 1 per cent.56 The special rapporteur called for legislative changes to reduce prosecutors’ dominant role throughout the judicial process and to secure, in both law and practice, a balance between the respective roles of prosecutors, defence lawyers, and judges. He also urged the national authorities to ratify the Optional Protocol on the abolition of the death penalty.57 Pardon or commutation All individuals sentenced to death have the right to appeal for commutation of their sentence to life imprisonment or 25 years’ imprisonment.58 Appeals are initially considered by the Clemency Commission. The cases of all individuals sentenced to death are considered regardless of whether the convicted individual submits an appeal for clemency.59 Relatives Relatives are not informed in advance of the date of execution, the body is not returned, and the place of burial is not disclosed to the relatives until at least two years after the burial has taken place.60 56  Report of Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro Despouy, Mission to Kazakhstan, 11-17 June 2004, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2005/60/Add.2. 57  Ibid. 58  Article 49 (3) of the Criminal Code; Article 31 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code; and Article 166 (1) of the Criminal Execution Code. 59  Presidential Decree No. 2975 “On provisions for pardoning procedure by the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan”, 7 May 1996. 60  Article 167 of the Criminal Execution Code. 19