Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus

General information

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus is at the helm of the system of courts of general jurisdiction and is the highest judicial body that administers justice in civil, criminal cases, administrative cases, economic cases, oversees the judicial performance of courts of general jurisdiction, exercises other powers in accordance with the legislation.

Powers of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus

Supreme Court of Belarus:

• considers, within its purview, cases as a court of first instance, cases in cassation proceeding, cases as part of a supervisory procedure and in the light of newly revealed circumstances, and also reviews complaints (protests) against the rulings of the oblast (Minsk city) courts and rulings of the oblast (Minsk city) economic courts on administrative cases;
• considers cases on appeal, in accordance with the legislative acts, within its purview;
• submits proposals to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus to give an opinion in accordance with Part 2 of Article 112 and Part 4 of Article 116 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus;
• examines and summarizes litigation practices, maintains and analyzes judicial statistics of general jurisdiction courts and provides clarification on the application of the law;
• oversees how lower courts implement the rulings issued by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus;
• assists judges of courts of general jurisdiction with the application of the law;
• draws up proposals to improve legislation;
• provides organizational, technical, financial, administrative and personnel support to the courts of general jurisdiction, and also organizational and logistical support for the judicial community;
• addresses, within its purview, the issues arising from the international treaties of the Republic of Belarus and the issues of cooperation with foreign courts, foreign and international organizations.