Challenges to the introduction of the institute of appeal in criminal proceedings were discussed on 19 December 2017 in Minsk, Belarus, by the representatives of the judiciaries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and the Council of Europe experts. The interregional conference “Appeal in the criminal justice system: reality, trends and perspectives” was organized by the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Belarus.
The appeal instance was established in the criminal justice system of Belarus in 2016 and is still in the process of setting up. At the Conference, Belarusian legal community benefited from learning the experience of countries which have undergone similar reforms since 15-20 years, replacing a former system of cassation by a full-fledged appeal and thus reinforcing the right to a fair trial. The participants discussed the respect.
The Conference was opened, among others, by the Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Mr Christos Giakoumopoulos, the Prosecutor General of Belarus, Mr Aleksandr Koniuk, the President of the Supreme Court of Belarus, Mr Valentin Sukalo, the President of the Constitutional Court of Belarus, Mr Petr Miklashevich and Chargé d'affaires a.i. of the European Union Delegation to Belarus , Mr Jim Couzens.
The Conference which was organized in the framework of the Project “Human Rights for All”, a part of the joint programme between the Council of Europe and the European Union “Partnership for good Governance” became an occasion to strengthen the co-operation between the Council of Europe and legal professionals of Belarus and prepared the ground for a set of follow-up activities.
On 19 and 20 December 2017 Mr Giakoumopoulos had a number of bilateral meetings with various Belarusian stakeholders to discuss further co-operation between the Council of Europe and Belarus in the area of human rights and the rule of law. The interlocutors included the president of the Supreme Court, the President of the Constitutional court, the Minister of Justice, Vice-rector of BSU and the Deputy Minister of Health.
