Transformation of the Institution of Constitutional Control in the Republic of Belarus

Abstract

The article examines the stages of the evolution of constitutional control in the Republic of Belarus, through the prism of the development of abstract and concrete control. Characterizing the form of abstract control, attention is drawn to a certain adjustment of abstract subsequent control, introduced with the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus in 1994, at different stages of constitutional development (1996, 2014, 2022) in relation to subjects of circulation, objects of control. The form of mandatory preliminary control over the constitutionality of laws adopted by Parliament before their signing by the President, introduced in 2008, is analyzed. As a result of the constitutional changes of 2022, the Belarusian model of preliminary constitutional control has undergone a certain transformation associated with its constitutional legitimation, the expansion of objects of preliminary control, as well as the transition from mandatory to optional control over the constitutionality of laws adopted by Parliament before they are signed by the President. Particular attention is paid to the study of the development of specific constitutional control, taking into account a certain adjustment of the constitutional formula in 2022 with the aim of consistent development of the Belarusian model of constitutional justice within the framework of the European model. Attention is focused on the most important constitutional innovation of 2022 – the introduction of a constitutional complaint, which significantly expands citizens’ access to constitutional justice. It is concluded that each stage of the development of constitutional control in Belarus serves as an example of adaptation to the changing conditions of the functioning of constitutional justice. It has been established that the adjustment in 2022 of the Belarusian model of subsequent concrete constitutional control indicates a transformation of the Belarusian model of constitutional control, consisting of the abandonment of elements of a mixed model, and the current stage of the evolution of constitutional control in the Republic of Belarus demonstrates the transition from an abstract form of constitutional control to concrete constitutional control , which means an increasing role of the Constitutional Court not only as a guarantor of the supremacy of the Constitution, but also as a defender of individual rights and freedoms.