A.A. Hnitsevich lodged a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of Article 12.4 “Consolidation of cases on administrative offences” of the Procedural and Executive Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offences (hereinafter – the Code).

A.A. Hnitsevich was brought to administrative responsibility by orders of the head of the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Kamenets District Department of Internal Affairs on the imposition of an administrative penalty.

The applicant believes that the head of the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Kamenets District Department of Internal Affairs was obliged to combine three cases of administrative offences committed by him in one administrative process, which is provided for in Article 12.4 of the Code.

In fact, for the administrative offences committed by three orders, the applicant was imposed a total administrative penalty that exceeds the penalties established by paragraphs 1 and 4 of part 1 of Article 7.4 of the Code of Administrative Offences.

The applicant believes that the decisions taken on the cases of administrative offences committed by him contradict Articles 7, 21 and 22 of the Constitution.

In its decision on the case, the Constitutional Court recognised Article 12.4 of the Procedural and Executive Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offences in terms of establishing the possibility of combining cases of several administrative offences committed by one person in one administrative process, if they are under the jurisdiction of the same court, the body conducting the administrative process, to be conforming to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus.

Based on the principle of the rule of law, the Constitutional Court recognised the existence of a constitutionally significant gap in legal regulation, which has caused legal uncertainty in the interrelated provisions of Article 12.4 of the Procedural and Executive Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offences and Article 7.4 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offences, since in the system of current legislation they do not provide legal certainty when imposing administrative penalties for committing several administrative offenses that form a group.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus must eliminate the identified gap in legal regulation, taking into account the legal positions of the Constitutional Court set out in the decision.

Prior to making appropriate changes to legislative acts, law enforcement bodies must ensure compliance with the principles of fairness and reasonableness when imposing administrative penalties for committing several administrative offenses that form a group.