At the National Press Centre of the Republic of Belarus was held a press conference of Petr P. Miklashevich, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus, dedicated to the adoption of the Message to the President of the Republic of Belarus and the Houses of Parliament of the Republic of Belarus “On Constitutional Legality in the Republic of Belarus, 2010”.

In his speech the Chairman of the Constitutional Court told of the contents of the Message and pointed out the following.

Last year a number of national political events were held in the Republic of Belarus in accordance with the Constitution. Among them the most important were the presidential elections, the Fourth All-Belarusian People's Assembly, which represents a constitutional form of a direct participation of the citizens in running public and state affairs, and the elections of deputies of local councils.

In the course of the presidential elections the Belarusian people expressed their sovereign will. Holding the elections in accordance with the rules and principles of the Constitution and electoral laws based on it has ensured that the elections were free and democratic.

The activities of the Constitutional Court, the mission of which is to review the constitutionality of normative legal acts in the state, was aimed at ensuring the supremacy of the Constitution and its direct effect in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the conformity of normative legal acts of state bodies to the Constitution, and at maintaining constitutional legality in rule-making and law-enforcement.

The Constitutional Court took decisions in which it stated its legal positions in the light of the constitutional values such as a democratic social state based on the rule of law, human rights and freedoms, supremacy of law, equity and equality, parliamentarism, constitutional economics.

In the exercise of obligatory preliminary review the Constitutional Court examined the constitutionality of 129 laws, including 80 laws on ratification of international treaties.

Among them there were the Education Code, laws governing legal relations in the spheres of support of small and medium enterprise, psychological assistance, state secrets, donation blood and its components, names of geographic objects, renewable energy, external labour migration, finance and taxes etc.

All the laws considered in the exercise of obligatory preliminary review were found to be conforming to the Constitution.

Thereat in its decisions the Court stated more than 50 legal positions in which it noted that the mechanisms to implement the relevant constitutional rules and principles, as well as the universally recognised principles of international law had been enshrined in laws. It was pointed out that the restrictions on rights and freedoms set at a law level, followed the general legal principle of proportionality, they ensured the balance of state, public and private interests, commeasured the values and goals protected by the Constitution.

With a view to adhere to the principle of legal certainty in legislation the legislator was paid attention to the prevention of uncertainty, inaccuracy, ambiguity in the content of certain norms of law. Therefore the Court clarified the constitutional and legal meaning of laws to prevent false law-enforcement.

The legal positions set out in the decisions were aimed at preventing the violations of constitutional legality, eliminating possible negative effects of unconstitutional norms of laws, attaining a uniform law-enforcement. This improves the quality of laws and the efficiency of legal regulation in general. Thus, the conditions are provided for better implementation of the constitutional principle of the supremacy of law, ensuring constitutional rights and freedoms of the citizens, rights and legitimate interests of organisations.

The authorised bodies: the President of the Republic of Belarus, the House of Representatives, the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Economic Court, the Council of Ministers did not forward any proposals to the Constitutional Court to examine normative legal acts in the exercise of subsequent constitutional review. This speaks for a high consistency of draft laws at the preparation stage by all state bodies.

In the exercise of the right to indirect access to constitutional justice the citizens submitted 57 appeals to the authorised bodies to initiate the review of constitutionality of normative legal acts. However, these bodies did not find any legal grounds to propose to the Constitutional Court that it should review the constitutionality of normative legal acts mentioned in appeals.

Based on the appeals of state bodies, other organisations and citizens the Constitutional Court took a number of decisions aimed at filling the gaps in legislation.

The implementation of the constitutional principle of the supremacy of law and legal certainty, derived from it, was the focus of the decision of December 15, 2010 "On Temporary Effects of a Normative Legal Act in Time after Ceasing Exercise of the Authority Delegated to Adopt (Issue) It". With a view to fill a gap in legislation as regards temporary effects of legal rules this decision recognised as necessary to regulate at a law level the issues related to the establishment of the procedure and time-limits for declaring the normative legal acts, which have been adopted (issued) pursuant to delegated powers, to have lost their force when these rule-making powers of a state body have been terminated. The Council of Ministers was proposed to elaborate and submit a relevant draft law.

In 2010 a total of 1181 appeals were forwarded to the Constitutional Court, of which 1138 citizens’ appeals and 43 appeals of organisations. 89% of all the appeals relate to law-enforcement. About 6% of the appeals contain questions about the constitutionality of laws and normative legal acts. About 3% relate to the interpretation of normative legal acts, alterations and addenda to them.

In 2010 six decisions on alterations and addenda to the legislation were executed, while others are under execution.

Among the executed decisions there is a decision of June 15, 2007 “On the right of individuals to legal assistance in administrative proceedings”. It pointed out that the rules of the Code of the Republic of Belarus of Execution Procedure Regarding Administrative Offences provided for a different scope of rights to legal assistance to the participants of administrative proceedings. The proposals were implemented, and now, at the request of an individual against whom administrative proceedings have been initiated, one of his close relatives or legal representatives may be admitted as a defender under the order of a body which conducts administrative proceedings.

State bodies of the Republic of Belarus have been consistently implementing in normative legal acts the legal positions and proposals, laid down in the decisions of the Constitutional Court, to fill gaps in legal regulation, eliminate conflicts and prevent legal uncertainty.

According to the results of the review of constitutionality of economic laws, the Constitutional Court stated that the laws under review have developed the rules and principles of the Constitution granting equal rights to exercise economic and other activities; guarantees of equal protection and conditions for the development of all forms of ownership; equal opportunities for free use of abilities and property for entrepreneurial and other economic activities. According to the Constitutional Court, in the Republic of Belarus the conditions and mechanisms for the formation of constitutional economics as an essential component of building a social state are created on the basis of constitutional provisions.

The constitutional legality is affected by both the quality of legislation, legality and justice of law-enforcement, and overall constitutional culture in the society and the state. Legal conscience, based on the Constitution, reflecting the views and ideas about constitutional values, facilitates to balance the interests of an individual, society and the state.

The Constitutional Court considers that the rights and freedoms of man and the citizen as the supreme value shall determine the content of laws and other normative legal acts, they shall be supported by an effective mechanism of their exercise. The state, taking all measures at its disposal to create domestic and international order necessary for the exercise and protection of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens as well as the development of constitutional values, ensure the civic concord, inviolability of democratic foundations and constitutional order.

During the second part of the press conference the Chairman of the Constitutional Court answered the questions of journalists.