Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko is hosting a government meeting to discuss the proposed amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code. The corresponding bill has been worked out, BelTA has learned.
The work was launched two years ago, following a meeting on improving the performance of courts. The main goal is to improve the procedure for appealing against court decisions in criminal proceedings.
“A focus of attention in our country has always been on the efficiency of the judicial system. The topic of our conversation today is court hearings, especially in criminal cases,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.
He stressed: “The seriousness of the issues under consideration and the consequences of the court rulings require a very balanced approach to reforming this sector. Especially when it comes to such a sensitive moment for people as appealing against court decisions.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, unfortunately, even the most competent and experienced judge or prosecutor is not immune from mistakes in his work. They can be not only minor, technical mistakes, but sometimes they can lead to the conviction of an innocent person. “The opportunity to correct such mistakes should be guaranteed,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
He recalled that in 2016 the criminal process switched from a cassation to an appeal procedure, which allows for a more complete investigation of the circumstances of the case in the court of second instance. “In 2019, I instructed the Supreme Court to make proposals to further improve the procedure for appealing court rulings in criminal cases. In late 2021, the Supreme Court submitted a relevant draft law,” the president said.
On the one hand, this draft envisages optimization of the existing order of judicial decisions review to avoid unnecessary red tape, bureaucracy and overorganization. On the other hand, it proposes to introduce an additional stage of court proceedings - cassation. “In this regard, I would like the developers and those interested to clearly explain why we need a return to the criminal process of cassation. We already had it. After all, the appeal proceedings also remain,” said the head of state.
