There is a need for granting the Constitutional Court of Belarus additional powers so as to utilize its potential with maximum efficiency, said President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on 26 May at the meeting on enhancing the performance of the Constitutional Court.

“My position has remained the same: We need to utilise the potential of the Constitutional Court, the high professionalism of its judges at a larger scale,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

According to the Head of State, the widening of the powers of the Constitutional Court will only bring benefit to the country and make it possible to solve most complicated juridical problems which relate directly to the rights and freedoms of the citizens, performance of government bodies.

Various points of view were voiced in the course of the meeting as to granting the Court additional powers. Some suggested increasing the Court’s involvement with law-making activity, especially when bills are being drafted, ensuring that bills comply with the Constitution before they are signed by the President. The Constitutional Court also proposed holding checks at the suggestion of the Council of the Republic into system-based and flagrant violations of the effective legislation committed by local councils of deputies. Considered was the possibility of changing the structure of the Constitutional Court as well as some other proposals.

The meeting participants voiced their concern about the possible overlapping of authority and competence of the Constitutional Court, once its powers are expanded, and other government bodies and agencies. The President said this should not be allowed to happen.

The Head of State attached special attention to the need to preserve the balance within the system of not only judicial power, but also state administration as a whole. “No doubt, the expansion of powers of the Constitutional Court is necessary. But this should be done with utmost caution: In such a way so as to exclude the Court’s interference with the work of the other government bodies, to prevent the Court’s intrusion upon the Constitution and violation of the principle of separation of powers,” said Alexander Lukashenko.