Informed consent is a basic principle of providing psychological assistance: a person must understand what service they are receiving and voluntarily agree to it. In Kazakhstan, this principle is now reinforced by a unified document form approved by the relevant ministry.
What happened
The Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan issued order No. 365 dated September 18, 2026, "On approval of the form of informed consent of the recipient of psychological assistance or their legal representative." The document underwent state registration with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan on September 21, 2026, under No. 39918.
Registration with the Ministry of Justice means that the order is included in the system of current regulatory legal acts and acquires binding force. From this moment, a standardized form is introduced in the field of psychological assistance, used to formalize a person's (or their legal representative's) consent to receive the service.
What informed consent is
Informed consent is a voluntary decision by a person to receive psychological assistance, made after the essence, goals, and features of the upcoming work have been explained to them in an understandable form. The name of the order itself points to two key characteristics of the document: it is informed (i.e., it implies prior explanation) and voluntary (it is executed at the will of the service recipient themselves or a person acting in their interests).
Approving a unified form solves several tasks at once:
- records the fact of the person's consent to receive assistance;
- establishes the rights of the service recipient in written form;
- sets a clear and uniform procedure for specialists to prepare documents;
- reduces the risk of disagreements between the parties regarding the scope and conditions of the assistance provided.
Who this concerns
The rules affect two main categories of participants.
Recipients of psychological assistance and their legal representatives. The form directly provides for a case where the consent is signed not by the person themselves but by their legal representative — for example, if the recipient of assistance is a minor or a person who, on established grounds, cannot express consent independently.
Specialists and organizations providing psychological assistance. For them, the document becomes part of the mandatory procedure for working with service recipients: consent is formalized using the approved form rather than in an arbitrary format.
What to do in practice
Those who provide psychological assistance should bring their internal procedures into line with the approved form:
- use the approved consent form in their work rather than their own templates;
- before signing, explain the content of the document to the service recipient in accessible language;
- ensure proper execution of consent by a legal representative in cases where this is necessary;
- ensure that signed consents are stored in accordance with the procedure established for the organization's documents.
It is important for recipients of psychological assistance to remember that signing the consent is their voluntary right. Before signing, it is worth carefully reviewing the text of the form and asking the specialist questions if something remains unclear.
Timeline
The order was registered with the Ministry of Justice on September 21, 2026. The exact procedure for its entry into force is determined by the text of the order itself, so organizations working in the field of psychological assistance are advised to review the full text of the document at the official source and clarify the date from which the use of the approved form becomes mandatory.
Frequently asked questions
Who approved the informed consent form? — The form was approved by the Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan by order No. 365 dated September 18, 2026.
Did the order undergo state registration? — Yes, the document was registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Kazakhstan on September 21, 2026, under No. 39918.
Can the consent be signed by someone other than the person themselves? — Yes, the form directly provides for the document to be signed by the legal representative of the recipient of psychological assistance.
Is it mandatory to use the exact approved form? — After the order's registration, the form acquires regulatory status, so organizations should formalize consent according to the approved template rather than in an arbitrary format.
Where can I view the full text of the document? — The full text of the order is published in the Reference Bank of Regulatory Legal Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan (zan.gov.kz).