Łukašenka’s Legal Policy Concept prioritizes national security over human rights

June 30, BPN. Alaksandr Łukašenka signed an edict on the Legal Policy Concept to reflect the amended Constitution and “modern challenges and tasks for the state and society,” says a document published on the National Legal Internet Portal on June 30.

The concept establishes foundations for Belarus’ legal policies, listing sovereignty, national security, human rights and freedoms, social justice, patriotism, and sustainable development as ideological priorities.

Sovereignty is defined as “real possession by the state of supreme and full power across its territory, independence in defining and implementing internal and foreign policies, and the ability to act as a legal entity on the international arena.”

Belarusian membership in international organizations and integration projects is based on “the obligatory preservation of state sovereignty,” the document notes.

Belarus’ territory “is integral and unalienable,” it says, stressing that the guarantee of sovereignty is the constitutional ban on the conclusion of international treaties that run counter to the Constitution.

The state should ensure all rights and freedoms yet these may be restricted by law “in the interests of national security, public order, protection of morals, public health, rights and freedoms of other persons,” it says.

Among other definitions, the document describes patriotism as “the ability to put state interests ahead of personal interests.”

All ideological priorities outlined in the document should be “directly reflected and elaborated in the legal system,” it stresses.