6.1. Study the information on the State System of Belarus.

The fundamental law of the state is the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. The current Constitution was adopted in 1994 and amended in 1996 and 2004; it is the 5th constitution in Belarusian history.

According to the Constitution, there are three branches of power in Belarus: the legislative, the executive and the judicial ones.

Belarusian Parliament – or the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus – holds representative and legislative power and consists of two chambers – the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic. The House meets for 2 regular sessions every year. Extraordinary sessions can be called by a presidential decree. In Belarus, Parliament serves a 4-year term.

The House of Representatives consists of 110 deputies; any citizen of the Republic of Belarus over 21 years old can be elected a member of the House.

The Council of the Republic is a regional representative body with 64 members – 8 are appointed by the President and the rest ones are elected by secret indirect vote – 8 members from each region and Minsk city. In order to qualify as a deputy, candidates must be at least 30 years old and reside in the relevant region of Belarus for at least 5 years.

One of the main roles of the House of Representatives is to consider the draft laws and amendments to the Constitution on the suggestion of the President or a considerable group of voters (150 000 and more).

The main role of the Council of the Republic is to approve or decline draft legislation that the House of Representatives has passed. Then it is approved or rejected by the Council of the Republic of Belarus. Cleared by both chambers a draft law must be signed or rejected by the President within ten days, and only then it becomes a law.

The government of the Republic of Belarus – the Council of Ministers – performs the executive power. It consists of the Prime Minister (the government’s head), his deputies and ministers. The Council of Ministers commands the system of subordinate bodies and is responsible for the country’s effective development in accordance with the laws adopted by the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus. The government ensures implementation of the single economic, financial, credit and fiscal policy, the state policy in the fields of science, culture, education, healthcare, environment and social security. It also works out the country’s budget and presents it to the President.

There are local bodies of power on the level of administrative and territorial units – the local councils of deputies. The local councils of deputies deal with local issues and represent the local population in decisions on issues relating to health, education, social welfare, trade, transport, etc.

The judicial power in the country belongs to the court system headed by the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus. Supervision of constitutionality of normative acts is exercised by the Constitutional Court. The Chairmen of these courts and 6 judges of the Constitutional Court are appointed or dismissed by the President with the approval of the Council of the Republic of Belarus.

Thus, there is a clear separation of three branches of power and their functions in Belarus.