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
- JANUARY 1, 2018BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Article 24 of the constitution reads that
Article 24 of the constitution reads that "the death penalty...
JULY 21, 2017BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
Belarus' Mahilyow Regional Court sentenced Ihar Hershankow and Syamyon Berazhny to death after they were convicted of six murders linked to a real estate scam.
JULY 1, 2017BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: DEATH SENTENCE UPHELD IN APPEAL IN SUPREME COURT
On 17 March 2017, 32-year-old Aliaksei Mikhalenya was sentenced to death by the Homel Regional Court of Belarus for two murders, committed with particular cruelty (p. 1, p. 6, p. 16 part 2 of art. 139 of the Criminal Code).
MAY 6, 2017BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: FIRST EXECUTION CARRIED OUT THIS YEAR
Belarus is believed to have carried out its first execution of the year.
MARCH 17, 2017BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: FIRST DEATH SENTENCE HANDED DOWN IN 2017
32-year-old unnamed resident of Naroulia town was sentenced to death by the Gomel Regional Court on 17 March, the court’s spokesperson Olga Barsukova told the media.
- JANUARY 1, 2017BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Article 24 of the constitution reads that
Article 24 of the constitution reads that "the death penalty...
- DECEMBER 29, 2016BelarusDEATH PENALTY
Kiryl Kazachok was sentenced to death for murdering his two children.
Kiryl Kazachok was sentenced to death for murdering his two children.
- NOVEMBER 30, 2016BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: THREE EXECUTIONS FEARED IN AS MANY WEEKS AMID ‘SUDDEN AND SHAMEFUL PURGE’ OF DEATH ROW
As many as three of the four men on death row in the Belarusian capital Minsk have been executed in a shameful purge since 5 November, Amnesty International revealed today after confirming with local activists.
NOVEMBER 28, 2016BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: ANOTHER CONVICT EXECUTED – HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Death convict Ivan Kulesh has been executed, Andrei Paluda, a coordinator of the campaign Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus, reports.
- OCTOBER 4, 2016BelarusDEATH PENALTY
BELARUS: SUPREME COURT CONFIRMS ANOTHER DEATH SENTENCE
the Supreme Court upheld the death verdict handed down to 33-year-old Siarhei Vostrykau in May. This is the third death penalty in Belarus this year.
- MAY 19, 2016BelarusDEATH PENALTY
THIRD BELARUSIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH SINCE JANUARY
А court in Belarus has sentenced a third man to death since January.
MAY 6, 2016BelarusDEATH PENALTYBELARUS: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR SYARHEI KHMYALEUSKI
The Supreme Court of Belarus has upheld the death sentence passed in February 2016 upon Syarhei