Legal Literacy: Responsibility is not only criminal but also civil

In accordance with Article 214 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, any property, with the exception of certain types, may be owned by citizens and legal entities. The quantity and value of property owned by citizens are not limited, except in cases where such restrictions are established by law in the interests of national security, public order, morality, public health, and the rights and freedoms of others.

In recent years, the fight against corruption has intensified, with organized theft, bribery, and abuse of official position exposed, including by officials holding high responsible positions. New laws are aimed at strengthening state and public control over the measure of labor and consumption, and improving accountability for committed offenses. Along with the main punishment provided for by the norms of the Criminal Code, property confiscation was also applied. The Law of the Republic of Belarus of January 9, 2019, introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, excluding punishment in the form of property confiscation. This same Law supplemented the Criminal Code with Article 46-1 "Special Confiscation," which defines that upon commission of a crime, property obtained by criminal means or acquired with funds obtained by criminal means; income received from the use of such property are subject to special confiscation, i.e., forced gratuitous seizure into state ownership.

A novelty of Belarusian legislation is the consolidation in the Law of the Republic of Belarus of July 15, 2015 "On Combating Corruption" of the right to seize property (recover expenses) whose value (amount) exceeds income received from legal sources. This civil liability, as an anti-corruption measure, is also provided for by the norms of civil law. This same Law supplemented Part 2 of Article 236 of the Civil Code with paragraph 10, which provides for the gratuitous seizure of property in cases provided for by legislative acts in the sphere of combating corruption.

According to Article 36 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Combating

"corruption" state bodies, other organizations, officials, in which (to which) public officials holding responsible positions, persons appointed to public service by election, their spouses, minor children, including adopted ones, adult close relatives living together with them and maintaining a common household, submit income and property declarations, as well as tax authorities exercise control over the compliance of the value of property belonging to the said persons, subject to mandatory declaration, and other expenses incurred with income declared by the said persons in income and property declarations and information (explanations) on sources and amounts of income from which such property was acquired and other expenses were incurred.

 In cases where, during the verification of income and property declarations of officials, a clear excess of the value of property and other expenses of these persons over income received from legal sources is established for the period when the officials held their positions, but not more than 10 years, the property and other expenses in the amount clearly exceeding the confirmed income shall be confiscated (recovered) free of charge, or the value of such property shall be recovered into state revenue based on a court decision at the claim of the prosecutor. A clear excess of the value of property and other expenses over income received from legal sources is understood as an excess of at least 25% of the income received from legal sources.

The establishment by the legislator of civil liability in cases provided for by Part Two of Article 36 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Combating Corruption" is aimed at strengthening the protection of the state and society from corruption offenses. Civil liability is of a property nature and arises regardless of the привлечение of the offender to other types of liability. 

Head of the Department for Supervision of Compliance with the Law of Judicial Decisions in Civil Cases of the Regional Prosecutor's Office Irina Titkova