Constitutional Court stands for prisoners' rights

The Constitutional Court of Belarus adopted the ruling About the order of realization of the right to court appeal against the used restraint by the persons sentenced to arrest, imprisonment, life conviction, those who are kept in custody and under administrative arrest. This document proposes that the Council of Ministers should prepare a draft law for introducing amendments and supplements to the Civil Process Code.

The Constitutional Court states that Article 60 of the Constitution guarantees to every citizen the protection of his rights by a competent, independent and impartial court within the legally established terms. The appropriate laws also provide the right of the people who are factually deprived of their liberty, to appeal against the restraint, whereas the order of the court consideration of such complaints hasn't been determined yet.

That's why the Constitutional Court draws the attention of the authorities to this shortcoming that prevents the aforementioned categories of citizens from fully realizing their constitutional right to access to justice. The court considers as necessary to legally determine the order and peculiarities of the consideration of the appropriate complaints of the persons who are sentenced to arrest, imprisonment, life conviction, kept in custody or under administrative arrest, and proposed that an appropriate draft law be prepared by the Council of Ministers.