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On 14 February 2018 the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus took the decision “On Legal Regulation of the Calculation of Time Limits for Submission of an Executive Document for Execution” (reporting judge – Liliya Kozyreva)
The proceedings were initiated by the Constitutional Court in accordance with parts two and four of Articles 158.2 and 158.4 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the Constitutional Proceedings” on the issue of legal regulation of the calculation of time limits for submission of an executive document for execution.
The Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Executive Proceedings" (hereinafter – the Law) establishes the conditions and procedure for conducting executive proceedings on executive documents.
The Law establishes a three-year period for submission of executive documents issued on the basis of court rulings or being court rulings (Article 34.1) for execution. The Law defines circumstances when the specified period may be interrupted (for example, when executive proceedings are initiated); after the interruption, time limits for submission of an executive document for execution shall be calculated from the start, and the elapsed time shall not be included in the new time limits (Articles 35.1 and 35.2).
One of the grounds for the initiation of executive proceedings, among other things, is the submission of the relevant application and an executive document by the recoverer to the enforcement body (Article 42.1 of the Law). At the same time, when the recoverer submits an application for the return of an executive document, the executive proceedings shall terminate; the return of the executive document to the recoverer shall not create obstacles for the re-submission of this executive document for execution within the prescribed time limits that shall be calculated from the start (Articles 53 and 55 of the Law).
In the opinion of the Constitutional Court, the provisions of the Law providing for the possibility to interrupt repeatedly the period for submission of an executive document for execution in case the recoverer submits an application for the return of an executive document and resubmits the latter for execution, allow of a multiple extension of the said time limits, that leads to an indefinite duration of removal of the debtor's property from the civil circulation and restriction of his right to own property.
The foregoing points to legal uncertainty of constitutional and legal importance in the legislative regulation of public relations in the field of executive proceedings, since the supremacy of the constitutional provisions guaranteeing the rights of the owner of property, equal judicial protection of the rights of the recoverer and the debtor, the adoption of the necessary measures for the proper execution of court decisions as an element of judicial protection and creation of appropriate conditions is not ensured.
In the light of the foregoing, the Constitutional Court, in order to ensure the constitutional principle of the rule of law and to exercise the principle of legal certainty, recognised the need to eliminate uncertainty in the constitutional and legal regulation of the interruption of the time limits for submission of an executive document for execution in case of presenting an executive document previously returned to the recoverer upon his application.
It is proposed to the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus to prepare a draft law on making alterations and (or) addenda to the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Executive Proceedings” and to submit it to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus under the established procedure.