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The main terms set out in the Belarusian anticorruption regulations are:
The definitions of the aforesaid terms are given below. It must be noted that certain terms are not limited to government/public sector and include private sector.
The term “Officials” (Rus. – “должностные лица”) refers both to public and private sectors and is defined in the criminal and administrative legislation.
Under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus the term “Officials” covers:
The Administrative Offence Code of the Republic of Belarus defines the “Official” as a person who permanently, temporarily or due to a special authority performs organisational and regulatory or administrative and economic functions2.
As a general criterion for qualification as the “Official”, both Criminal Code and the Administrative Offence Code generally provide that the Official is a person who has a legal right to make binding orders affecting persons not subordinated to him/her by law.
Liability imposition for bribery is distinguished in Belarusian legislation between the Officials and the Officials occupying responsible position3 which results in differentiation of criminal liability.
The term “Government Officials” (Rus. – “государственные служащие”) under Belarusian law refers to a citizen of the Republic of Belarus who occupies a public position which provides him/ her with some permissions and charges to carry out certain official duties4.
Public position is a regular occupation within state body associated with performance and enforcement of functions of the relevant state body5.
The term “Public Officials” (Rus. – “государственные должностные лица”) is defined in the anticorruption Law and considers the following persons as Public Officials:
Apart from the above, Belarusian legislation includes such term as “Individuals having the Same Status as Public Officials” (Rus. – “Лица, приравненные к государственным должностным лицам”). This term constitutes a separate category of officials and includes following positions:
The term “Individuals having the Same Status as Public Official” has a broad interpretation and expands application of the anticorruption Law to the “Official” in the most universal sense that covers private sector.
Terms “Public Official” and “Individual having the Same Status as Public Official” are used only in the anticorruption Law. The anticorruption Law provides for general definitions and rules on anticorruption relations and determines general principles of counteraction of corruption. However, the anticorruption Law does not set sanctions for the corrupt practice nor provides any specific procedures for calculation / application of sanctions. Therefore, the Criminal Code and the Administrative Offence Code have higher practical significance since both legislative acts establish liability for bribery crimes and other corruption offences.
According to Article 3 of anticorruption Law the persons who are subjects of corruption offences (i.e. persons covered by anticorruption regulations) are:
1 Article 4 of Criminal Code
2 Article 1.3. of Administrative Offence Code
3 Article 4 of the Criminal Code
4 Article 5 of Law on Government Service
5 Article 4 of Law on Government Service
6 Article 6 of anticorruption Law
7 Article 7 of anticorruption Law