Meeting with judges of the Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court needs to take the lead in the implementation of the provisions of the country's fundamental law, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with judges of the Constitutional Court on 18 July.

At the beginning of the meeting, the head of state recalled that a similar meeting took place quite a long time ago (more than six years ago). Back then the conversation focused on the work on constitutional amendments. The judges of the Constitutional Court contributed to the extensive work to draft the new edition of the fundamental law.

“When developing the constitutional amendments, we sought to strengthen the sovereignty and independence of Belarus, to solidify the system of government that was suited to the needs of the times and to highlight our inherent traditional values,” the President noted.

According to him, subsequent events confirmed that the amendments were very relevant. Yet, the main thing that Aleksandr Lukashenko drew attention to was that all the principles and norms laid down in the Constitution must be implemented, which is not always the case now. “This is our great problem, indeed,” the President said. He noted that it is imperative to rectify the situation. This also applies to the powers of the Constitutional Court that were significantly expanded by the constitutional reform. Proposals of the judges were also taken on board during the work on the reform. “Everything you wanted and asked for found its way into the Constitution. If you have any other proposals, I think we will figure out what to do,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President asked about the state of things at the Constitutional Court and its ability to rise up to the task. “I believe that the Constitutional Court should not be afraid to take the lead in implementing provisions of the fundamental law,” the head of state emphasized. “Now it is important to take it up a notch, to be ahead of the curve, to think in the future tense. In short, society should be able to see the results of the work of the Constitutional Court. Protection of the constitutional legal order in our country depends on your efficiency,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.

The President outlined several urgent issues that require consideration.

The first of them concerns the new constitutional function of the court - the interpretation of the Constitution. According to the President, such requests should come from the Presidium of the Belarusian People's Congress, the parliament, the Supreme Court and the government. These bodies also have the right to make inquiries regarding the compliance of regulatory legal acts with the Constitution.

“So far we have not seen such inquiries, but the ground [for the implementation of such powers] must be prepared by the Constitutional Court. You must initiate this process through your work,” the head of state said addressing the judges.

At the same time, these constitutional norms should not be declarative for government bodies, the President emphasized. “People come to you with pressing issues,” he noted.

The second issue raised by the head of state concerned another new constitutional provision - the institution of constitutional complaint. “It was suggested by the court itself. Citizens got the opportunity to appeal to the Constitutional Court not only through authorized state bodies, but also in person,” the head of state explained. He wanted to know what exactly the Constitutional Court was doing so that people could actually exercise this right.

“You must explain to them that a constitutional complaint is their additional guarantee that can be used when all other means of protection in the courts of general jurisdiction have been exhausted. If we have given people direct access to constitutional justice, it is unacceptable to apply a pro forma approach to constitutional complaints,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

The third thing on the agenda was the interaction between courts. After all, courts of general jurisdiction have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court. When considering a specific case, a judge, having questioned the constitutionality of an act applied in a certain case, orders to check it for compliance with the Constitution.

“Not a single request was received by the Constitutional Court either before or after the constitutional amendments were introduced,” the President noted. “What is the problem? I know that the Supreme Court has its own opinion on this matter.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized that the highest body of constitutional control should not be mere observers of the processes taking place in society; yet, it should not position itself as an exclusive body in the government structure either. In this regard, the President recalled the United States that acts in line with the America First principle and is ready to sacrifice anything for its interests. “You see how the incumbent government [in the USA] acts, what this 'democracy' is worth,” the head of state noted. While defending its national interests, this powerful country disregards the whole world, to say nothing of individual countries, Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.

The President emphasized that no other state has probably done as much as Belarus to ensure the independence of the courts. “Yet, you should keep in mind that you are part of our state, the state vertical, the administrative apparatus. You should under no circumstances forget about this. We should stand united as never before in order to hold out and preserve our state,” said the Belarusian leader. “The Constitutional Court cannot get isolated. It should build constructive interaction with other government bodies,” the President remarked.

Aleksandr Lukashenko urged to make the most of the experience and knowledge of judges for educational purposes. “The Constitutional Court probably has our most seasoned lawyers. I think they do not have enough workload, so they need to do more in terms of public outreach,” the head of state believes. In his opinion, special attention should be paid to reaching out to young people, labor collectives, and government employees. “You are excellent lecturers and speakers. You are a repository of knowledge in the field of law, and not only law, but also other aspects of life,” the President said. He suggested doing outreach work starting from the Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President of the Republic of Belarus.
 
“In general, we need to take the lead and press forward,” the head of state noted. 

Characterizing the work of the Constitutional Court at the present stage, the head of state drew attention to the fact that the body should also play the role of in the law enforcement activity.  

According to the President, there are 175,000 normative acts are in force in Belarus today. “Too many of them. Some are difficult to read and perceive, some are overloaded. Some issues are overregulated. Many norms are repeated. Multiple adjustments are made to the documents,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. He drew attention to the fact that when significant adjustments are made, the normative legal act should be reissued in an updated version, which will greatly facilitate the work with such a document.

In this regard, Aleksandr Lukashenko instructed to organize a large-scale audit of the national legislation. The work will be organized by the Belarus President Administration. “Olga Ivanovna [Chupris, deputy head of the Belarus President Administration], you need to gather specialists and involve the Constitutional Court in this work,” the head of state said. MPs should also be involved in the process.

The purpose of such an audit, as the President explained, is to reduce the body of law, eliminate contradictions in legal regulation, identify bylaws that do not comply with the Constitution, laws and decrees of the President.

“We need to make a complete revision. We need to remove all the unnecessary things and leave only what matters. We need to conduct this revision. It will be a revolution not only in lawmaking, but a revolution in the country,” Aleksandr Lukashenko assessed the scope and importance of the upcoming work. “Everyone, from ordinary lawyers to the President, will focus our efforts on the matter.”