The institution of mandatory annulment of a legal act upon a negative conclusion following mandatory legal expertise is being abolished in Belarus. This is stipulated by Decree No. 316, which amends Decree No. 711 of December 30, 2010, "On Certain Issues of Mandatory Legal Expertise of Regulatory Legal Acts," aiming to enhance the quality of departmental rulemaking. The document was signed by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on August 23, as reported to BELTA by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
The institution of mandatory annulment of a legal act upon a negative conclusion following mandatory legal expertise is being abolished in Belarus. This is stipulated by Decree No. 316, which amends Decree No. 711 of December 30, 2010, "On Certain Issues of Mandatory Legal Expertise of Regulatory Legal Acts," aiming to enhance the quality of departmental rulemaking. The document was signed by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, on August 23, as reported to BELTA by the press service of the Belarusian leader.
"The abolition of the mandatory annulment of a legal act upon a negative conclusion following mandatory legal expertise is envisaged (currently, after the Ministry of Justice issues a negative conclusion, the act is subject to mandatory annulment). The body is granted 40 working days to revise the document; however, if the act is not revised within the specified period, it must be annulled," the press service informed.
A mechanism for appealing negative conclusions issued as a result of mandatory legal expertise is also being introduced. If a state body disagrees with the conclusion of the Ministry of Justice, it has the right to initiate the consideration of the disputed issue at the level of the Council of Ministers. The procedure for such appeals will be determined by the government.
Personal responsibility for the quality of legal acts adopted by rulemaking bodies is being imposed on their heads, who will be accountable for the validity and completeness of legal regulation of relevant social relations. Furthermore, information on the state of rulemaking activities will be taken into account when assessing the performance of the head of a rulemaking body, including during their attestation.
The changes come into force on October 1, 2016.