Review of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Public Service” has been published in English

The English version of the SYMPA/BIPART article describing the changes in the Law "On Public Service" has been published. These changes came into force on the 1st of September 2022. In this review you can also find the possible consequences that the Belarusian public service and society may face.
Two new chapters appear in the 2022 Law: “Civil Service” and “Specific Features of Admission, Performance and Termination of Civil Service, as Well as Disciplinary Liability of Persons Holding Civil Posts Included in the Personnel Register of the Head of State of the Republic of Belarus”. The chapter “Appointment and Payment of Pensions to Public Servants and Financing of Expenses for Their Payment” is missing in the 2022 Law.
Out of the 13 principles of the 2003 Law, 10 have remained mostly unchanged in the new law; the principle of “publicity” was replaced with the principle of “openness and transparency”; the principle of “effectiveness” was added; the principles of “humanism and social justice”, “unity of public service and its differentiation based on the concept of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial”, and “voluntary participation of citizens in public service” were not included in the system of principles of the 2022 Law. In our opinion, the exclusion of such principles as “publicity”, “humanism and social justice”, “unity of the public service system and its differentiation based on the concept of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial”, “voluntary admission of citizens to public service” indicate the trajectory set for the public service system to exercise state power according to a certain top-down scenario. The principle of separation of powers loses its significance, the possibility of free expression of personal opinion disappears.
The article in English is available in our library.