Article 40 of the Belarusian Constitution vests every Belarusian citizen with a right to appeal to public bodies which are obliged to consider the appeal and give an answer on the merits. The Constitutional Court is no exception; its primary duty is to uphold the constitutional guarantees of everyone.
- I, as a human rights defender, am constantly asked for help in drafting appeals, including for submission to the Constitutional Court. I also submit appeals myself. However, the refusals to consider the citizens' appeals are always using the same pattern, – notes Ustsinau."We remind you that the right to submit proposals on the constitutionality of a normative legal act to the Constitutional Court may be used by the President of the Republic of Belarus, the House of Representatives, the Council of the Republic, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Economic Court, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus", – the human rights defender quotes one of these typical responses.
Unfortunately, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Belarus only takes into account the proposals of the President of the Republic of Belarus, the House of Representatives, the Council of the Republic, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Economic Court and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.
- At the same time, I, while addressing the Constitutional Court, touch upon such most important issues as the equality of the right of administrative detainees and convicted prisoners to receive parcels, food parcels and packages. Equal rights of all persons are guaranteed by Article 22 of the Constitution, and in the meantime, the constitutional right of all administrative detainees to equality is violated, – says Ustsinau.
The Constitutional Court, whose duty is to safeguard the Constitution, ignores the appeals of citizens who address it as their court of last resort, which should impartially and guided by the Constitution consider their appeals.
Thus, all the Belarusian citizens can do is just watch the Russian Constitutional Court issue another decision in favor of the claimant.