Constitution of Belarus
A pamphlet version of the Constitution dis-
tributed to citzens by the government. The
document’s name is given in Belarusian, fol-
lowed by Russian.
The Constitution of the Republic of
Belarus
(Belarusian:
Канстытуцыя
Рэспублікі Беларусь, Russian: Конституция
Республики Беларусь) is the ultimate law of
Belarus.[1] Adopted in 1994, three years after
the country declared its independence from
the Soviet Union, this formal document es-
tablishes the framework of the Belarusian
state and government and enumerates the
rights and freedoms of its citizens. The Con-
stitution was drafted by the Supreme Soviet
of Belarus, the former legislative body of the
country, and was improved upon by citizens
and legal experts. The contents of the Consti-
tution include the preamble, nine sections,
and 146 articles.[2]
The structure and substance of the Consti-
tution were heavily influenced by constitu-
tions of Western powers and by Belarus’ ex-
periences during the Soviet era. While much
of
the
Constitution
establishes
the
government’s functions and powers, an en-
tire section details rights and freedoms gran-
ted to citizens and residents. The Constitu-
tion has been amended twice since the ori-
ginal adoption, in 1996 and in 2004. Two ref-
erendums that were disputed by independent
observers and government opposition leaders
increased the power of the presidency over
the government and eliminated the term lim-
its for the presidency.
History
Belarus
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Belarus
• Constitution
• President
• Alexander Lukashenko
• Government
• Prime Minister: Sergey Sidorsky
• National Assembly
• Council of the Republic
• House of Representatives
• People’s Assembly
• Constitutional Court
• Supreme Court
• Economic Court
• Elections
• Foreign relations
• Administrative division
• Political parties
• Historic rulers
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Belarus adopted its first constitution in 1919
when the country was a Soviet Republic
(USSR).[3] Belarus contin