On October 27, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 381, which formed the judicial staff of the Appellate Economic Court. This was reported to BELTA by the press service of the Head of State.
The powers of the court chairman are assigned to the Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court, Yuri Kobets. In total, the Appellate Economic Court comprises 27 judges, including the chairman and his deputies.
The establishment of the Appellate Economic Court marks the final stage of judicial reform in Belarus. Thus, a fully-fledged three-tier system of courts is being created in the country's economic justice system.
The new judicial body will commence hearing cases on January 1, 2026. All necessary organizational and staffing measures are planned to be completed by this time.
As previously reported, the decision to establish the Appellate Economic Court was made by the Head of State to implement the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code, which provides for the creation of a three-tier system of economic courts.
This structural transformation will occur through the separation of the functions of the courts of first and appellate instances, which are currently operating within a single court. This will be an important step towards increasing the efficiency of economic case adjudication.
Regional economic courts and the economic court of the city of Minsk will act as courts of first instance. The Appellate Economic Court will serve as the second, appellate, instance.
The court is planned to be formed from the existing number of judges and staff of other courts. A total of 27 judges will work there, including the chairman and his deputies. A Presidium, an appellate judicial board, and a judicial board for considering civil cases as a court of first instance and for administrative offense cases will be established.
The competence of the Appellate Court will include the consideration of civil cases concerning economic disputes arising from economic legal relations, as well as supervision over the activities of the lower regional economic courts and the economic court of the city of Minsk.