Belarus
2026
- GOVERNMENT
- nominally a republic, in fact a dictatorship
- CONSTITUTION
- March 15, 1994; amended 1996, 2004
- LEGAL SYSTEM
- based on civil law; not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICJ
- LEGISLATIVE SYSTEM
- bicameral, National Assembly (Natsionalnoye Sobranie) composed of the Council of the Republic (Soviet Respubliki) and the House of Representatives (Palata Predstaviteley)
- JUDICIAL SYSTEM
- Supreme Court (composed of the president and vice president and organized into various specialized chambers, including economic and military; number of judges determined by the president of the republic and the president of the court); Constitutional Court (composed of 12 judges, including a president and a vice president); oblast courts; City Court of Minsk; city courts; Economic Courts of the city and oblast of Minsk
RELIGIONS
Orthodox 48.3%, Catholics 7.1%, others 3.5%, non-believers 41.1% (estimate 2011)
From the country
OCTOBER 27, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2 KILLINGS
a man in Belarus was sentenced to death for killing two guards while robbing a vehicle carrying cash despite his request for clemency.
- OCTOBER 22, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
ITALY/BELARUS: ZAMPARUTTI- ITALIAN COMMITMENT AGAINST DEATH PENALTY DISAPPOINTING
regarding today’s reply by Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Luigi Scotti to the urgent parliamentary question on Vasil Yuzepchuk’s imminent execution in Belarus, Radical Parliamentarian and Hands Off Cain treasurer Elisabetta Zamparutti said:
- OCTOBER 21, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS SHOULD IMPOSE MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY – EU COMMISSION
the abolition of the death penalty in Belarus is one of the key conditions for developing the relations between the European Union and Minsk, said Jean-Eric Holzapfel, head of the European Commission's delegation to Belarus.
- OCTOBER 20, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
UN CALLS ON BELARUS TO HALT EXECUTION
the United Nations called on Belarus to halt the imminent execution of a man accused of murdering of six elderly women. Vasily Yuzepchuk was sentenced to death on June 29.
- OCTOBER 20, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
ITALY-BELARUS: RADICALS- DEATH SENTENCE TEST CASE OF THE ‘GOOD RELATIONS’ BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES
together with other elected Radical parliamentarians from the Democratic Party list, Elisabetta Zamparutti presented an urgent parliamentary question to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs regarding the case of Vasil Yuzepchuk.
- OCTOBER 13, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: PRESIDENT DENIES PARDON
Belarusian president Aleksander Lukashenko refused to pardon death row inmate Vasily Yusepchuk,
- OCTOBER 12, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS. DEATH CONVICT YUZEPCHUK HAS SOME HOPE AGAIN
the UN Human Rights Committee registered the individual address of Vasil Yuzepchuk, sentenced to death
- OCTOBER 10, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
in the World Day against the Death Penalty...
in the World Day against the Death Penalty, the Council of Europe’s information centre in Minsk launched a campaign on abolition of the death penalty.
- OCTOBER 9, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: MAN ON DEATH ROW COMPLAINS TO UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
Vasil Yuzepchuk, sentenced to death for murdering six old women, complained to the UN Human Rights Committee.
- OCTOBER 7, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: IMMINENT EXECUTION MUST BE STOPPED
Amnesty International urged the President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko to grant clemency to a man
- OCTOBER 2, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: TOP COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR MURDER
the Belarus Supreme Court rejected the final appeal against the death sentence given to Vasil Yuzepchuk,
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2009BelarusDEATH PENALTY
ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER URGES BELARUS TO HOLD “PERMANENT HUMAN RIGHTS DISCUSSION”
Belarus should hold a "permanent" public discussion on human rights, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters in Minsk.