On 1 February the President of the Republic of Belarus signed Decree No 60 "On the Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet Network."

The purpose of this document is to protect the rights of Belarusian citizens, the society and the state in the field of information, to improve the quality of Internet services and make them cheaper, and to encourage further growth of the national segment of the Internet network.

It is for the first time that an item of legislation contains requirements designed to make the information about state bodies and other state institutions more accessible. For this, the Decree prescribes that government bodies and other governmental institutions as well as businesses in which the state has a majority stake make sure that information about their work is available at their websites and that their websites function properly and updated regularly.

As a result, Internet users will have a free access to the information about the work of a given state institution (other organization), its postal address, phone numbers, the procedure of processing people’s claims and requests, administrative procedures, etc.

Please see the Russian version of this site for the full text of the Decree.