On 4 January 2017, as part of the continued attacks against freedom of association and basic trade union rights, a Court ruling ordered the dissolution of two trade unions, namely the National Healthcare Workers’ Union and the National Domestic Workers’ Union, both members of the Confederation Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan (CNTUK). Following the Court ruling, all CNTUK documents have been confiscated and the activity at national level has been paralysed.
The Court ruling had its legal grounds in the 2014 trade union law with its restrictive prerequisites in order for trade unions to be registered at national level, as well as a very biased and unclear process of registration at provincial level.