Discrimination Or Absurdity: Lawyer Reveals Pitfalls Of Lukashenka's Scandalous Decree
- 7.09.2023, 12:58
- 8,592
Regime aggravates country's international isolation.
On 7 September Decree No. 278 of 4 September "On the procedure for issuing documents and actions" came into force.
Now the dictator is "up to the laws", but that doesn't make it any easier for Belarusians, because the laws adopted in our country are in contradiction not only with international acts, but also with our own national legislation, first of all the Constitution.
A Belarusian lawyer told Charter97.org on condition of anonymity:
- Lukashenka's new decree imposes a number of significant restrictions on Belarusians abroad. Now Belarusians will have to return not only to exchange their old passports for new ones.
The dictatorship is offering its citizens the chance to return to the country in person to carry out basic legal acts such as: confirming identity, selling property and vehicles, legalising documents.
"... At the personal request of the interested person ... or on the basis of a power of attorney executed in the Republic of Belarus ...".
Thus, the state registration of contracts for the sale of property and vehicles forces you to return to the country if you decide to sell property or a car.
This does not yet apply to the registration of a lease agreement, as the decree only deals with the alienation of property, and a lease agreement is not an alienation agreement, and it is still possible to use a foreign power of attorney, translated and certified, of course.
Moreover, powers of attorney issued in Belarus before the decree came into force are still valid. But this is the only consolation in the new 'legal' regulation.
However, the decree also makes it impossible to deregister a vehicle. In practice, this means that all Belarusians living abroad cannot sell or dispose of their cars and motorcycles, which will continue to be subject to the 'road tax' that fills the budget of the regime in Belarus.
The diplomatic missions of the Republic of Belarus have also ceased to process not only passports, but also civil status documents and the legalisation of a number of important documents for a citizen. For example, a duplicate of a birth certificate is one of the main documents required to obtain citizenship of a foreign state. The same goes for divorce certificates, death certificates and much more. And if you are unlucky enough to be outside Belarus without these documents, you will have to return or apply for international protection in the host country.
In fact, we are talking not only about the restriction of the rights of a significant part of the citizens of the Republic of Belarus, but also about the implicit deprivation of citizenship of those who cannot return to their homeland.
"No one shall be deprived of citizenship..." - says the current Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. However, a law contradicting the Constitution has already been adopted, providing for trials in absentia and deprivation of citizenship of "extremists".
Obviously, the "lawmaker" who stayed in Belarus was not guided by the principles of the rule of law and did not try to fulfil his obligations to the citizens. The authorities in Belarus are only looking for new ways to fill the state budget and increase the country's international isolation.
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