Meeting with heads of supreme courts of foreign countries

The reality is that the peoples of former Soviet countries are seeking closer cooperation, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with the heads of the supreme courts of foreign countries in Minsk on 14 April.

Foreign delegations have arrived in Minsk to mark the 100th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Belarus. Among them are representatives of Russia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. “I am a lucky man as I have a good opportunity to meet with the best people in the field of law. I know that the leadership of the supreme courts have no poor professionals,” the head of state said greeting the heads of the courts. “I am sincerely glad that you have found time for this event. We appreciate it very much,” he added.

“Our countries cooperate closely in various areas, including within the international obligations under the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Union State, the Eurasian Economic Union. We actively develop our presence in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The life itself confirms the validity of the aspiration of the peoples of the former Soviet countries for closer cooperation. It is particularly relevant in the current difficult time,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President stressed that the post-Soviet countries are united in their desire to ensure law and order in their states, to protect the interests of citizens.

"I believe that your current visit to Minsk will serve to further professional cooperation. We can carry out many judicial reforms synchronously and in concert. Our country is always open to dialogue. We are closely watching you, your innovations. As we take certain steps in reforming our judicial system, we make sure we don't get ahead of ourselves and away from you. If it is necessary to do something at the state and interstate level for you, we are ready to support all your constructive proposals," the Belarusian leader said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko recalled that the countries have already taken the right step towards strengthening cooperation. On the initiative of the Supreme Court of Belarus, the CIS Council of Chairmen of the Supreme Courts has been established. The President is confident that this will allow coordinating approaches in the field of justice.

"Of particular interest is the exchange of experience in the field of judicial construction. After the collapse of the once unified judicial system, the new sovereign states had to create their own national models of judicial procedure. As you know, Belarus has taken the path of consistent improvement of the structure of the judiciary. We have not sought to break things. We are aware that we stand on the shoulders of giants: a lot has been done before us in judicial construction. We went this way of continuous improvements," the head of state said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, when reforming the judicial system in Belarus, all decisions were made deliberately and without copying of the unnecessary foreign experience. We have carried out several stages of judicial and legal reforms. Judicial reforms are reflected in our Constitution. We know that you carry out judicial reform processes. We are interested in your achievements, and are ready to share our experience. By continuously improving the judicial system, we first tested everything at the level of laws and by-laws. And then, when we made sure that they work we formalized them in our Constitution," the President added.