1.2. History of the constitutional system

On the territory of the modern Belarus existed several legal documents which could be considered as a constitution. Particularly, since 1588 had been acted "Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania". It was a standard for many foreign countries. The Statute of the Grand of Lithuania underwent three editions. The third revision of Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a well known European legal code. It has been studied in most European countries as a fine example of legal technique of that time. The above mentioned document pretended to be the "first Constitution in Europe". It was acting up to the moment of Belarus' adjunction to Russia in 1795.
After the soviet governance setting and proclamation of Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) in 1919 the first Constitution of BSSR was enacted. Its main features were: allocation of the power for the Councils, workers as the dictatorship of the proletariat; disfranchisement of some particular groups, etc.
In 1922 Belarus joined the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR).

Since that time several amendments of the Constitution were made in 1927, 1937, 1978. All of them were based on the relevant Constitutions of USSR.
Until the moment of secession from the USSR the Constitution of BSSR enacted in 1978 had the power. It confirmed the building of the "developed socialism". The articles on referendum and the sovereignty were stated there for the first time. However, the priority was given to the Supreme Council as the highest body of legislature which is considered over the other state organs. However, the first attempts towards division of powers between the legislature, executive and judiciary and principles formation of constitutional state and sovereignty of Belarus were made.

The Republic of Belarus emerged as a sovereign and independent state as a result of the break-up of the Soviet Union. In 1990, the Supreme Council of BSSR adopted a Declaration of Independence. Following the failed military coup in Moscow in August 1991, the Declaration received the status of a Constitutional Law, which, from a legal prospective, made Belarus an independent state, while still part of the USSR. Only after the signing the declaration on creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 1991, which legally recognized the demise of the Soviet Union, Belarus become an independent state de facto.
In 1994, the Parliament of Belarus enacted a new Constitution, which proclaimed Belarus a sovereign, democratic, socially oriented and law abiding state. This constitutional definition incorporated to the fullest the principle of sovereignty, manifesting in the ability and responsibility of the state to conduct its own domestic and foreign policies and protect its independence and territorial integrity.

The Constitution of Belarus confirms the orientation of the state for key global values. The state considers the rights and freedoms of every individual its ultimate value and securing those rights its ultimate objective. This applies mainly to the basic rights, such as the right to live and the protection of life, the right to a decent standard of living and level of social support, the right to medical assistance, the right to work, housing, social support, property and personal safety, along with the right to participate in elections and in making decisions on matters of the state. All citizens of Belarus have equal rights to run for Parliament and local legislatures and to participate in elections, all are declared equal before the law and have the right to the protection of their legitimate right or interests with no exemption or discrimination.
The institution of the Presidency was established for the first time. The President became the Head of the state and the head of the executive power. The Government incurred double liability and obeyed to the President and the Parliament.

However, according to the Constitution the Supreme Council sill was the highest representative continuing body and single legislative body of the state power in the Republic of Belarus. It has the right to pass laws, adopt and change the Constitution. It could determine, assign and change credentials of any other bodies. In fact it had unlimited authority on decision making on any issues.

Contradictory to the basic principle of division of powers and their independency the Supreme Council was considered as a body which had power over executive branch.
Thus, necessity of the constitutional reform was stipulated by impartial factors. At the same time, in 1994, the institution of constitutional control was established. Thus, the constitutional reform 1996 through the national referendum of 1996 enforced balance in authority between branches of power, assign the functions of the Head of the state on the President, establish two-chamber Parliament (House of Representatives and Council of the Republic) instead of the Supreme Council; strengthened the role of the Government - the Council of Ministers within the system of power branches and its responsibility for economic, social and cultural development to consolidate, its influence in administrative-political sphere. In that way the most essentially amendments were made to the chapter dedicated organization and responsibilities of the highest authorities - President, Parliament, Government and courts. Legislative power is not privileged any more. Restructurisation of the Supreme Council and establishment of the Belarusian Parliament - National Assembly signified a definitive rejection from the soviet model of the state structure towards avowed standards of parliamentarism. Adoption of the Constitution in 1996 laid the legal foundation for dynamic development of the society, efficient functioning of branches of power (legislative, executive and judicial). Last amendment of the current Constitution was made in 2004 through the national referendum. The limitation for the Precedence terms was cancelled.