The Republic of Belarus’ Ministry of Justice is a governmental body tasked with overseeing and implementing the country’s legal system, as well as state control and administration of court records and proceedings. It was established in 1992. Minsk, Belarus, is home to the corporate headquarters. Oleg Slizhevskiy is the current Minister. Before the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, there was the People’s Commissariat of Justice of the Byelorussian SSR (1946–1992) and the Ministry of Justice of the Byelorussian SSR (1946). The Supreme Court of Belarus is governed by the Ministry of Justice.
History
Even though there was a minister of justice in the BSSR as early as 1918, the People’s Commissariat of Justice did not become the BSSR Ministry of Justice until 1946. The ministry was disbanded in 1960, and it wasn’t until 1970 that it was reinstated. Since then, the ministry has existed in some form.
Primary Responsibilities
The Republic of Belarus’ Ministry of Justice’s primary responsibilities are:
- Legally support the President, National Assembly, and Ministers’ legislative initiatives to ensure coordinated government action
- reviewing all relevant laws and regulations as required
- regulating notary services and overseeing the notarial in the Republic of Belarus
- Monitoring the Notarial Law, the Notary Chamber of Belarus, and its institutional framework
- certificate of civil status registration
- Registration of political parties, trade unions, international and national public groups, and other organizations
- Coordination of state registration and liquidation of enterprises, nonprofits, and self-employed businessmen
- maintenance of the unified state registry of legal entities and self-employed businessmen
- maintenance of the registry of arbitrators and permanent arbitration tribunals
- Material, technical, financial, administrative, and professional support for law enforcement agencies, plus personnel training
- establishing and developing the system of legal services and mediation and
- carrying out international activities on behalf of the Republic of Belarus within its remit
The registration and dissolution of banks, non-bank credit and financial institutions, insurance firms, agents, and associations are not the responsibility of the ministry.
Criticism
The ministry was criticized for applying different criteria to profit and nonprofit groups, as well as political parties. In Belarus as of 2020, there were 15 parties. The government later refused to register new parties for various reasons after the last party was registered in 2000. All of these cases were defended by the ministry using what is believed to be fabricated and weak justifications. For instance, due to incorrect line spacing in the documents, the ministry declined to register a local chapter of the BPF Party in the Hrodna Region. Additionally, the ministry is vehemently opposing the registration of non-governmental organizations. Oleg Slizhevskiy, the current justice minister, was subject to penalties from the European Union and the United States. Slizhevsky was identified as one of the organizers of a fraudulent election by the United States. The European Union Council also blamed him for irregularities in the 2020 presidential election. The ministry has also been criticized for increasing its involvement in the legal system.
Location
10 Kollektornaya Street, Minsk, 220004
Official website
www.minjust.gov.by
