Protection of Entrepreneurial Freedom as a Rule-of-Law Criterion: Administrative Discretion and Judicial Review in Kazakhstan

This article examines entrepreneurial freedom as a practical criterion of the rule of law in Kazakhstan, with particular attention to administrative discretion, reason-giving, proportionality, legal certainty, and judicial review. The study combines limited doctrinal analysis of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Administrative Procedural and Process-Related Code, and the Entrepreneurial Code with an illustrative examination of administrative case No. 6001-24-00-6пп/1 involving Energo-upravlenie LLP. The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 is used solely as an external institutional benchmark. The analysis identifies five functional areas of regulatory discretion: initiation of intervention, factual and evidentiary assessment, selection and intensity of the measure, procedural participation and reason-giving, and administrative or judicial correction. The article also presents a prospective coding framework for future multi-case research. The empirical component is intentionally limited to one published judicial ruling; no longitudinal statistical analysis, cross-case comparison, correlation analysis, regression modelling, sensitivity testing, or case-specific index scoring is claimed. Supporting materials include a structured Excel workbook and a methodological codebook prepared for research transparency and future reproducibility.