March 15 – Constitution Day of the Republic of Belarus

15.03.2024

Constitution Day of the Republic of Belarus is a public holiday that is celebrated annually in the country on March 15 in accordance with Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated March 26, 1998 No. 157.

The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus is the Basic Law of the country, which has the highest legal force and establishes the fundamental principles and norms of legal regulation of the most important social relations. The Constitution defines the state structure, establishes the principles of the electoral system, regulates the formation of government bodies, and establishes the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The Constitution declares man and his life to be the highest value.

The Constitution of Belarus was adopted on March 15, 1994. For the first time in the history of Belarusian statehood, it consolidated the status of the republic as a unitary democratic social state of law, established the principles of a democratic system, the priority of human rights and freedoms, and the primacy of international law. In addition, for the first time in the history of the country, the Constitution provides for the position of the President of the Republic of Belarus in the system of supreme bodies of state power.

Currently, the 1994 Constitution is in force with amendments and additions adopted in republican referendums on November 24, 1996, October 17, 2004 and February 27, 2022.

The first amendments and additions to the Constitution were made as a result of a republican referendum held on November 24, 1996, to which two projects were submitted. For the project proposed by the President of Belarus A.G. Lukashenko, 70.5% of the total number of voters voted. For the Supreme Council project — 7.9% of the total number of voters. Based on the results of the referendum, the Constitution was adopted in a new edition. In particular, powers were redistributed between the President, Parliament and Government, and some rights and freedoms were expanded.

The next referendum, which included issues of amending and supplementing the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, took place on October 17, 2004. Its result was the removal from part one of Article 81 of the Constitution of the norm on holding by the same person the position of President of the Republic of Belarus for no more than two terms.

The third referendum on the issue of introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution was held on February 27, 2022 at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Belarus. An updated version of the Constitution was submitted for public discussion, where it was proposed to change 83 articles, supplement the text with one chapter on the All-Belarusian People's Assembly and 11 new articles. The changes primarily affected the issues of the state structure of our country. Thus, norms were formulated defining the status, order of formation and powers of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, which became the highest representative body of democracy.

The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus consists of a Preamble and 9 sections (148 articles):

Section I. Fundamentals of the constitutional system.

Section II. Personality, society, state.

Section III. Electoral system. Referendum.

Section IV. President, All-Belarusian People's Assembly, Parliament, Government, Court.

Section V. Local government and self-government.

Section VI. Prosecutor's office. State Control Committee.

Section VII. Financial and credit system of the Republic of Belarus.

Section VIII. The procedure for amending and supplementing the Constitution.

Section IX. Final and transitional provisions.

The full text of the Constitution can be found on the National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus