MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) - The Supreme Court of Belarus is interested in cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), BelTA learned from the press service of the court.
The Supreme Court hosted representatives of the OHCHR technical mission on 10 October. The sides discussed the preliminary results of the implementation of the Interagency Plan of implementation of the recommendations adopted by Belarus upon the second cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in the UN Human Rights Council, and the recommendations for Belarus formulated by the human rights treaty bodies for 2016-2019.
The goals of the visit to Minsk of the OHCHR technical mission is to explore the needs of the Belarusian side in expert advice and assistance in the implementation of the interagency plan. This is needed in order to determine the further strategy of the OHCHR in technical cooperation with Belarus in the field of human rights.
First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court Valery Kalinkovich briefed representatives of the OHCHR technical mission on the course implementation of each of the activities of the Interagency Plan over the past year. Reference was made in particular to the cooperation with the UN Committee on Human Rights as part of the individual communications procedure under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966.
The parties discussed the realization of the principle of inevitability of punishment of people guilty of human trafficking. The sides reviewed the matters of improving the procedure for judicial review of the verdicts that have not yet come into force through permitting appeals in civil proceedings. Valery Kalinkovich informed the experts that the draft law on amending and supplementing the Code of Civil Procedures of the Republic of Belarus that provides for permitting appeals in civil procedures has been submitted to the House of Representatives.
The sides also discussed the topic of pre-trial conciliation (mediation) in the criminal process and the possibility of expanding the scope of application of alternative dispute resolution in all kinds of proceedings.
In conclusion, Valery Kalinkovich reiterated the readiness for the fruitful dialogue with the expert community. “We are ready for constructive cooperation to ensure the rule of law," he said.
