EVOLUTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW AND ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL DOCTRINE IN THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS SINCE INDEPENDENCE

Abstract

In Belarus, the national doctrine of administrative law has been oriented to a large extent towards the Soviet and modern Russian legal traditions, albeit with some distinct contextual features. In this work, we review the positions of some of the most authoritative scholars, and make a number of summative judgements and conclusions. The primary aim of administrative law is to provide and create a regulatory framework for the exercise by the government authorities of their mandate and powers. The objective of administrative law is to govern and regulate the interactions between the executive power and other legal subjects in the performance of its functions. In the Belarusian doctrine, the predominant position of most scholars is that the scope of administrative law should include the administrative legal relations arising in the course of the exercise by the public administration bodies of their administrative functions, including of regulatory mandates towards external bodies, and in relation to the enjoyment by the citizens of their rights and liberties. In Belarus, the system of administrative law is customarily understood as an ordered framework composed of institutions, norms and domains, which may be divided into four sections. The first section encompasses the institutions that determine the legal status in the area of public administration of the citizen, of state bodies, of non-governmental organizations and of civil servants, it also incorporate the institutions that exercise control over the subjects of administrative law. The second section encompasses the regulations that govern liability under administrative law. The third section incorporates the norms of administrative procedure. The fourth section includes provisions that constitute the administrative legal framework for the management of the economy, socio-cultural and other spheres. Each section is comprised of the relevant legal institutions and sectors. The greatest challenge for administrative law of in Belarus seems to be the definition of the administrative procedure, which has not changed since the Soviet period. The alternative propositions presented in this work are of a purely theoretical character and should eventually be superseded by a legal definition, which views it as a distinct type of legal procedure governed by the norms of administrative procedure law grounded mainly in the Code of Execution Procedure for administrative torts. The legal term “administrative procedure” in Republic of Belarus is still identical to the concepts “administrative tort procedure” or “procedure for the hearing of administrative tort cases”. The main method of this study is that of integrated comparative analysis, with elements of the historical and formal-logical method. As a part of a comprehensive study in administrative law in the former Soviet Union, this work is intended to make a contribution to academic debate, by deepening and broadening its scope.