CONTENTS

Official Materials and Decisions
of the Constitutional Court
of the Republic of Belarus

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 5 February 2003 No. D-153/2003 "On constitutional legality in the Republic of Belarus, 2002"
• Message of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus to the President of the Republic of Belarus, the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus "On constitutional legality in the Republic of Belarus, 2002"

Summary
     In accordance with the requirements of the Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus" the Constitutional Court has prepared the Message to the President and the Chambers of the Parliament which reveals the constitutional legality in the Republic of Belarus in 2002.
     By its Decisions in 2002 the Constitutional Court has contributed to strengthening in law creating and law applying activities of the supremacy of the principles and norms of the democratic social State ruled by law enshrined in the Constitution and in international legal acts.
     The Message emphasizes that, in spite of strict separation in the Constitution and in the Law "On local government and self-government in the Republic of Belarus" of the powers of local representative and executive bodies, in practice there are instances of adoption of local enforceable legal acts by executive committees on the issues which fall exclusively within the exclusive competence of the local Councils of deputies. Such a substitution takes place more often while setting of local taxes and dues. Practice of delegation of exclusive powers by the Councils of deputies to executive bodies was found to be unconstitutional.
     The Constitutional Court has also paid attention to the fact that, while adopting certain enforceable legal acts, it took place failure to observe the principle of granting equal economic possibilities for the economic entities of different forms of ownership. Incompleteness and contradictoriness of legal regulation has been also found by the Constitutional Court as regards the mechanism of evaluation of the cost of the plots of land in case of their succession. The legislation and law applying practice revealed significant contradictions which shall lead to the infringements upon the rights of the persons who are owners of the land. Solution of the given issues shall be within the competence of the Government and, therefore, the Constitutional Court has proposed the Council of Ministers to give the current notion of the land value and to fix the procedure of its specification in instances of arising of the relevant law relations.
     The most important principles, by which the Constitutional Court has been guided in its activities, are the constitutional principle of equality of all before the law and the principle of equity. Based on those principles the Constitutional Court has examined several times the issues connected with application of amnesty with respect to the persons who committed crimes. It has been found, in particular, that the persons, with respect to whom the delivered verdicts were effective on the day of entering into legal force of the law on amnesty, shall have the right to amnesty also in instances when later on there is an inspection of those verdicts in the procedure of supervision.
     In 2002 the Constitutional Court has pursued consistently the previously launched line on securing the constitutional right of everyone to access to justice which in the international law is considered to be an inalienable and shall be the most important characteristic of any State pretended to have the status of a democratic State governed by the rule of law.
     A number of Decisions adopted by the Constitutional Court in 2002 has been connected with securing social rights of citizens, including the right to housing in part of giving soft credits, extraordinary free of charge subsidies and other forms of State support of the citizens for the improvement by them of living conditions. All those and other connected with them issues, in the opinion of the Constitutional Court, should find their solution in new housing legislation.
     The Message underlined that the work of law making bodies in 2002 shall signify about forming in the Republic of Belarus of new quality system of a sovereign State. However, law creation and law application have essential shortcomings: collisions of enforceable legal acts of the same level, gaps in legal regulation of the issues important for the protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the citizens, contradictions in normative regulation, deviations from the principles of the supremacy of the Constitution etc. The Constitutional Court in its Decisions has paid repeatedly attention to those negative phenomena.
     Attention has been paid to the fact that in the Republic of Belarus, in fact, there is no practice of interpretation by law creating bodies of issuing by them legal acts even in instances where the necessity of interpretation is caused by contradictions in the activities of law applying bodies, the courts of law included.
     The Constitutional Court underlined that Decisions of the Constitutional Court which are aimed at securing the supremacy of the Constitution and its direct effect are subject to obligatory and immediately execution after publication, unless there are no other terms specially stipulated in them. The majority of the Decisions delivered by the Constitutional Court were executed.
     It is emphasized in the Message that strengthening of the constitutional legality may be secured in case of absolute observing by all State bodies, officials and citizens in law creating and law applying practice of the principles and norms enshrined in the Basic Law of the country.

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 14 February 2003 No. D-154/2003 "On constitutionality of Decision of Pinsk city Council of deputies of 27 December 2001 No. 104 "On budget of the city of Pinsk, 2002" in part of imposition of local due from users of infrastructure of city"

Summary:
     Having analyzed the relevant provisions of the Constitution, a number of laws of the Republic of Belarus, the Constitutional Court has held that Pinsk city Council of deputies, by imposing the due from the users of the infrastructure of the city, had violated the requirements of the legislative acts, as well as there is no clarification of the provisions of Decision of Brest oblast Council of deputies of 21 December 2001 No. 94 "On budget of oblast, 2002" in part of determination of the circle of payers of the due and in part of finding their responsibility for non-payment or untimely payment of the due.
     Due to that the Constitutional Court has found point 1 of the Provision on local due from the users of infrastructure of the city, approved by Decision of Pinsk city Council of deputies of 27 December 2001 No. 104, as well as other norms of the Provision based on the given point to be at variance with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Belarus and to be void from the date of adoption of those Decisions and proposed Pinsk city Council of deputies to bring the given Provision into line with the legislation, as well as recommended Pinsk city executive committee and the Inspection of the Ministry on Taxes and Dues within the city of Pinsk according to the procedure specified in the legislation to solve the issue on repayment or as in payment on other accounts of the sums of payments made and collected from the persons listed in point 1 of the Provision on local due from the users of infrastructure of the city.
     At the same time, the Parliament has been proposed to specify in the law on budget for the next year or in other legislative acts in order to secure the protection of the rights and lawful interests of tax payers and in order to remove from the instances of duplication of decisions of local Councils of deputies of different levels to specify the exhaustive list of local taxes and dues, which local Councils of deputies may impose in the relevant territory, as well as to determine parameters of the most important elements of local taxes and dues within the frame of which local Councils of deputies may set the concrete objects of taxation, size of rates, payers, privileges, procedure of calculation and terms for payment of local taxes and dues.

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 18 March 2003 No. D-155/2003 "On termination of the proceedings on the case "On the conformity between the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and Articles 99 and 115 of Convention of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States "On legal assistance and legal relations on civil, family and criminal cases" and Article 8 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus"

Problems, opinions, comments

• G.A. Vasilevich. On pay of national duty while appealing to the court of law and to the public prosecutor's office on labour dispute

Summary:
     Author considers the issues connected with the existing practice of shelving the applications by the bodies of the public prosecutor's office on labour disputes in instances of non-payment of national duty. One of the reasons of the practice in question shall be disuse of the provisions of Article 112 of the Constitution, Article 6 of the Law "On the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus", Article 4 of the Law "On judicial system and status of judges in the Republic of Belarus" on the constitutional motion for examination of the issue on the constitutionality of the norms of the legislation. There is a specification on the possibility of removing from the given contradiction, its settling in favour of an employee by way of making alterations in the Law "On national duty".

• K.I. Kenik. New approaches to legal regulation of status of civil servants: on draft law on civil service

Summary:
     Under analysis there are provisions of the draft Law "On civil service" prepared by the National centre of draft law activities submitted by the President of the Republic of Belarus for consideration of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. Author specifies progressive nature of the draft law in comparison with the effective Law "On the bases of service in state apparatus" and, at the same time, pays attention to сertain weak points of the law.

• O.S. Kuryleva. Judicial practice as an object of constitutional control in the Republic of Belarus

Summary:
     Article is dedicated to the problems of the constitutional control over judicial practice. Results of activities on administering justice shall be considered to be an object of the constitutional control. There are examples of the provisions of judicial practice which are notable by certain degree of generalization, novelty, normative nature. Author proposes to concretize the competence of the Constitutional Court for enhancement of efficiency of the constitutional control.

• N.V. Silchenko. Problems of specification of the scope of bounds of effect of enforceable legal acts

Summary:
     Article studies the problems of specification of the bounds (limits) of effect of enforceable legal acts. Under consideration is correlation of two similar theoretical and legal constructions - limits of effect of enforceable legal acts and limits of effect of the norms of law, as well as theoretical and philosophical aspect of the effect of enforceable legal acts in a close link with other parts of legal system of society - legal consciousness, legal culture and legal science.

• P.S. Zabelov. Economic approach to analysis of enforceable legal acts

Summary:
     Economic analysis of legal acts finds no progress in legal literature and in researches, certain publications excepted. The main ideas of such an approach to enforceable enactments shall make the shape of some points, as well as make it possible to formulate particularities concerning their implementation in our country and to improve the effectiveness of the legislation in force.

• D.L. Gulyakevich. International legal approaches to liability of minors: methods of their realization in criminal legislation

Summary:
     Article considers the provisions, principles and standards concerning criminal liability of minors established by international legal acts. Analysis is given the approaches of the lawmakers of the Republic of Belarus and of other states to fixing minimum age of criminal liability, estimation is given the criteria of specification of the age in question.

• N.F. Sinkevich. Role of international adoption in securing the right of a child to be grown in family surroundings

Summary:
     Article is dedicated to social and legal issues of the necessity of adoption of Belarusian children by foreigners. There are the grounds of the position on the necessity of growing up children in a family environment and on expediency of handing on the children, who were left without the guardianship of parents, for their adoption by foreigners, if there was no possibility for their adoption in the Republic of Belarus. Author gives analysis of the system of enforceable enactments of the Republic of Belarus regulating the relations in the sphere of adoption of children.

Fundamental human rights and freedoms
in international law and their protection

     Decisions of the Rome Council Meeting "CSCE and the New Europe - Our Security is Indivisible" (Rome, 30 November - 1 December 1993) Extracts

     Budapest Document 1994 "Towards a Genuine Partnership in a New Era" (Budapest, 5-6 December 1994) Extracts

International relations of the Constitutional Court

     International UniDem Seminars in Trieste (Italia) (27-31 January and 24-28 February 2003)