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 14 July 2005 No. D-187/2005 "On improvement of legislation on payments of temporary disability allowances"

Summary:
     The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus has examined the applications of citizens concerning temporary disability allowance.
     The subject to examination by the Constitutional Court was Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 30 September 1997 No. 1290 (in wording of Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 4 April 2002 No. 421, with alterations and addenda of 12 December 2003 No. 1606) which approved Provision on procedure of securing temporary disability allowances and maternity (hereinafter is also referred to as Provision).
     The specified Provision fixed the procedure of securing temporary disability allowances (except for temporary disability allowance concerning occupational diseases and accidents). According to common procedure of calculation of temporary disability allowance which is stipulated in point 31 of Provision, temporary disability allowances shall be calculated in accordance with average daily (per hour) payment for 2 calendar months prior to the month of emerging temporary disability, maternity leave.
      In the process of study of the application, it was found that for the individual entrepreneurs there is the specification of another approach to calculation of temporary disability allowances (part one of point 39 of Provision), as well as another approach to fixation of maximum rates of the allowances in question (part three of point 39 of Provision).
      Having analyzed other legislative acts in the given sphere, the Constitutional Court has also ruled that individual entrepreneurs alongside with employers, other working citizens, as well as other natural persons who pay themselves compulsory insurance premium to the state insurance funds shall participate in making the funds of the state social insurance under conditions and in the way stipulated by the acts of legislation.
      On the grounds of the stated above, the Constitutional Court found point 39 of Provision to be incompatible with the principle of equality of the citizens of the Republic of Belarus in the right to state social insurance regardless of social status and occupation and to be not in line with Articles 22 and 23 of the Constitution enshrining that all shall be equal before the law and have the right without discrimination to equal protection of their rights and legitimate interests; restrictions of personal rights and liberties shall be permitted only in the instances specified in law, in the interest of national security, public order, the protection of the morals and health of the population as well as rights and liberties of other citizens.
      The Constitutional Court has proposed the Council of Ministry of the Republic of Belarus for the purposes of realization of the regulations stipulated in Articles 22, 23 and 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus to secure equal approach to regulation of the procedure of calculation and payment of temporary disability allowances with respect to all persons who are subject to compulsory state social insurance irrespective of their occupation.

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 7 September 2005 No. D-188/2005 "On improvement of housing legislation related to concession of the living accommodations into ownership in place of living accommodations in a tenement-house that are found to be unfit for habitation"

Summary:
     The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus has examined the issue on improvement of housing legislation in part of passing the living accommodations into the ownership in place of living accommodations in a tenement-house that are found to be unfit for habitation. The Constitutional Court has proposed the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus to stipulate in the Housing Code the proper legal regulation of the procedure of and the grounds (conditions) for passing the living accommodations in cases of finding the living accommodations in the tenement-house and owned by citizens to be at variance with the specified for habitation sanitary and technical requirements and unfit for habitation due to their emergency condition or wear and tear.
     The Constitutional Court emphasized that the procedure and grounds (conditions) for finding the living accommodations to be unfit for habitation as regards sanitary and technical requirements, as well as legal consequences of such a finding were not stipulated in the Housing Code and shall be subject to regulation at the level of by-laws, and that makes quandaries while their applying in practice.
     Thus, the content of Article 105 of the Housing Code shall stipulate that the owner of the living accommodation in a tenement-house shall be passed in place of this living accommodation another living accommodation into the ownership jointly with the members of his/her family only in instances, if the house (living accommodation) is: under emergency condition or threatens to collapse; subject to re-equipment as the house that is not fit for habitation; subject to demolition due to withdrawal of the plot of land for the state needs. However, the specified Article contains the list of grounds (conditions), legal consequences for re-equipment of such a living accommodation into the accommodation that is not fit for habitation, as well as finding this living accommodation to be under emergency condition or threatens to collapse.
      Absence of the indicated rules shall give rise the impediments while solving the issues as regards assigning the living accommodations into the ownership in place of living accommodations found to be unfit for habitation.
      Moreover, the Constitutional Court has paid attention that the legal regulations and decisions based thereon must be grounded on the principles of reasonableness with maximum consideration of private and public interests and, therefore, has proposed the law-maker to stipulate the rule, under which, at the will of the owner, he/she may be allotted the living accommodation of a greater size with the payment for the space that is over the size of the living accommodation occupied previously and found to be unfit for habitation.

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 12 July 2005 No. P-139/2005 "On setting of limit rates on dues from users"

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 26 August 2005 No. P-140/2005 "To the issue on setting of limit rates on dues from users"

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 26 August 2005 No. P-141/2005 "On measures on protection of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens in the field of environmental protection"

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 14 September 2005 No. P-142/2005 "On procedure of repayment of budgetary funds"

• Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus of 29 September 2005 No. P-144/2005 "On some issues of rendering gratuitous financial aid for building (reconstruction) or acquisition of living accommodations"

Citizen lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Court

      On taking recourse against oblast executive committee for available goods
      On licensing guard activities
      On transactions among citizens with use of foreign currency
      On right to disposal of the plot of land
      On registration of a dwelling house, financing of heavy repairs
      On compulsion to conclude the contracts of energy supply
      On making housing and communal payments
      On recovery from the persons who are guilty of automobile accidents of expenses of establishments of medical treatment
      On identifying numbers in passport of citizen
      On calculation of period of service or occupational life while awarding pension
      On payment of underpaid pension due to expiry of the term of residence permit
      On right of a person to receive pension for a foreign citizen

Scientific information

• G.A. Vasilevich. Suspension and termination of effectiveness of acts of legislation: constitutional and legal grounds and consequences

      Article considers the issues of suspension and repeal of legal acts. Author pays attention to the necessity of observance of the rules in the field of law making process.
      Under emphasis there are the consequences of repeal or suspension of the acts, there are the proposals as regards the improvement of the legislation and practice of its application in the given sphere.

• N.L. Bondarenko. On relation of constitutional and civil and legal principles

      The present paper is devoted to the study of the issues related to the principles of the civil law. Without going into the frames of the approach of strictly definite branch, author makes analysis of correlation of the specified principles with the constitutional principles. Article is both of scientific and applied nature: theoretical outcome shall be supported by concrete proposals as regards improvement of the civil legislation.

• L.A. Kozyrevskaya. Correlation of public and private in legal regulation of relations of membership in collective subjects of law

      Article makes analysis of legal nature of inner organizational relations arising in legal entities created by two and more participants (founders). The main result of the study is the conclusion about complex nature of the given relations that incorporate private legal and public legal elements, and that in its turn shall make it possible to specify the general algorithm of their legal regulation.

• Y.N. Mermer. Principle of equal citizenship and its realization in legal position of the Constitutional Court on the issues of citizenship

      Article considers the principle of equal citizenship that is still insufficiently explored in scientific literature.
      Analysis of enforceable enactments regulating relations in the given sphere is related to the examination of the practice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus, in particular, its legal position concerning the terms "citizen of the Republic of Belarus by birth" and "citizen of the Republic of Belarus who resides in the Republic of Belarus".

• N.S. Gubskaya. Constitutional bases of participation of the public in taking decisions of ecological significance

      The present paper is devoted to the comprehensive investigation of constitutional principles and international legislation of public participation in environmental decision-making. On the basis of the comparative analysis, author comes to the conclusion that the national legislation corresponds to the international one in the sphere of political rights of citizens, concerning public participation in environmental decision-making.

• E.A. Kovaleva. To the issue of securing labour discipline

      Securing the labour discipline is considering in the context of realization of the constitutional obligation of the state to take all available measures at its disposal for carrying out the rights and freedoms of citizens.
      Issues of keeping labour discipline at the level that is necessary for proper solution of production and other tasks of the employer, as one of the conditions for normal functioning of organizations shall be considered in the light of making possible alterations in the labour legislation.

• I.I. Semashko. Registration of marriage as legal means for protection of marriage by the state

      The registration of marriage in the registry office, one of the main legal ways of the defense of marriage, is revealed in the article. Author of the article gives statistical facts that confirm the fall of the marriage and family prestige in the society. Author gives various points of view of different scientists to the question of possibility and expediency of legal regulation of relationships between people living together out of wedlock.

• T.M. Seledevskaya. Certain aspects of the problem related to mock maternity

       Author is making an effort to consider some issues related to the use of one of the methods of the extra substitute reproduction — mock maternity.
      Article considers the history of use of the programs of the mock maternity in the world, studies legal aspects of the given institute in the Russian Federation, evaluates certain norms that regulate the issues of use of mock maternity.
      Special attention is given the issues of legal regulation of the institute of mock maternity in the Republic of Belarus, taking into account the forthcoming alterations in the Family Code of the Republic of Belarus.

Philosophy of law

• A. Vaisvila. Legal personalism

      Article considers the issues of legal personalism that have little coverage in scientific publications of Belarusian authors, in spite of the fact that the law understanding oriented to the democratic values shall become actual, including due to strengthening the principles of the state ruled by law in the Constitutions of the majority of European countries.
      Author advances the idea that the social meaning of the law shall increase simultaneously the practical essence of law understanding, in view of the fact that it determines the substance of the state policy aimed at realization of imperatives of the given law.

Experience of bodies of constitutional control of foreign states

• O.B. Kuznetzov. Improvement of competence and forming the practice of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland during transformation of society (the eighties and the nineties of XX century)

      Article studies the formation of the institute of constitutional control in Poland during the period of democratization of society, as well as the relevant alterations of the Constitution of Poland and the current legislation.
      The majority of the issues are connected with the relevant aspects of the legal status and activities of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus.

News of science

Round table "Direct effect of the Constitution as the most important factor of development of the state ruled by law"

International relations of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus

V.Z. Shuklin. X Yerevan International Conference (30 September - 1 October 2005)

V.I. Zhishkevich. III International Conference of Secretaries General of Constitutional Courts and Courts of Equivalent Jurisdiction in Bled, Slovenia (29 - 30 September 2005)

V.I. Seledevsky. International Conference "Internalization of Public Law" in Athens, Greece (16 - 17 September 2005)