The prestige of the Order of Motherhood will be enhanced in Belarus. To this end, amendments to the law on state awards are planned to be adopted, as reported to BelTA correspondent Oleg Levshunov, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission on Labour and Social Affairs of the House of Representatives.
The prestige of the Order of Motherhood will be enhanced in Belarus. To this end, amendments to the law on state awards are planned to be adopted, as reported to BelTA correspondent Oleg Levshunov, Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission on Labour and Social Affairs of the House of Representatives.
The amendments to the law on state awards are designed to ensure the harmonisation of Belarusian legislation, streamline the procedure for selecting candidates for the Order of Motherhood, and eliminate ambiguous interpretations of the law's provisions in practice. For example, it is planned to establish Belarusian citizenship of children as one of the criteria. "Strengthening the institution of the family, forming spiritual and moral family values in society is one of the objectives of demographic and family policy. State awards are the highest form of encouragement for citizens for their contribution to the development of Belarus, therefore it is advisable to award mothers raising children who are citizens of our country. In general, the draft law is aimed at enhancing the prestige of the Order of Motherhood," explained Oleg Levshunov.
The drafters of the document propose to award foster mothers five years after the date of adoption or guardianship. In this case, according to the parliamentarian, the practice was also taken into account. There are cases where adoption is cancelled due to parents failing to fulfil their upbringing and maintenance obligations or for other reasons. In addition, it is proposed to expand the criteria under which women cannot be nominated for the Order of Motherhood. Currently, a criminal record and an immoral lifestyle are grounds for refusal. According to the draft law, a mother with two or more administrative penalties, if the period has not expired after which she is considered not to have been punished, will not be able to receive the award. This approach has been agreed with Article 2.8 of the Code of Administrative Offences, according to which an individual is considered not to have been subjected to administrative penalty if they do not commit a new offence within one year from the date of completion of the execution. At the same time, it is proposed to consider only those directed against public order and morality, the deputy noted.
The draft law introduces a deadline for local authorities to make decisions on initiating a petition for the award of the Order of Motherhood. "It is proposed to establish a six-month period from the date of the grounds for the award arising – that is, from the date the fifth child turns one year old, five years have passed since adoption, or other circumstances giving the right to the award arise, for example, in the event of a mother with many children, who previously lived abroad, returning to Belarus," the parliamentarian said. This will allow for higher quality preparation of award materials. For this purpose, local authorities request documents and information from state bodies and other organizations. Often, such requests are sent to other regions or even abroad. Obtaining responses to requests and their examination will require time.
Deputies are preparing the bill for the first reading.