Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 March (BelTA) – The efforts of law enforcement agencies to prevent offences should be practice-oriented and efficient, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said at the session held on 10 March to discuss the performance of law enforcement agencies in 2016 and the optimization of law enforcement and judicial systems, BelTA has learned.

“Unfortunately, there are enough pressing issues in the law enforcement system. First of all, they are related to the efforts to ensure the smooth interaction in crime prevention, investigation and solving of crimes, prevention of duplicated functions and formalism in work, full compensation for crime-related damages,” the President said. “I would like to place a special emphasis on crime prevention.”

The head of state also emphasized that the law enforcement agencies should not just do the talking. It is not enough. Crime prevention efforts should be practice-oriented and effective.

Alexander Lukashenko remarked that this issue was discussed when Ordinance No. 3 “On preventing social dependency” was under consideration at the recent government session. “This ordinance centers around preventive measures. This is a strong preventive tool. I urged the Belarusian interior minister to focus on this issue. Why? Because an unemployed person (you know it very well) is a future criminal,” the President said. “There should be efficient tools for the prevention of crimes.”

The head of state added that it is essential to pay special attention to the negative processes happening around Belarus.

“Terrorist attacks in western countries, including those committed by radical new methods. Cyber attacks on the infrastructure objects of the states, the flows of migrants, the military conflict in Ukraine. These factors do affect the interests of Belarus. Therefore, we cannot neglect them,” Alexander Lukashenko said. “The Belarusian society has already faced previously unknown crimes. Therefore, we must timely and efficiently respond to all emerging risks, challenges, and threats to the security of our citizens and state.”

The participants of the session are expected to discuss the performance of law enforcement agencies in 2016, and the development prospects. “This is a traditional event. We have already had similar sessions with law enforcement agencies, maybe in slightly different formats. This meeting is special because it is attended by the representatives of all branches of power. This is my requirement because people’s security matters are of paramount importance for every state.”

At the same time, the President remarked that the state of affairs concerning the maintenance of public security, law and order in Belarus is stable and manageable. The crime rate has decreased almost two times in the past decade. The crime detection rate is improving. According to the recent international assessments, Belarus has significantly improved its positions in the global rankings of the rule of law and anti-corruption measures and is ranked much higher than its CIS neighbors and other European states.

According to the head of state, this positive dynamics is largely attributed to the recent systematic reforms in the law enforcement and judicial systems. These include the establishment of the Investigation Committee and the State Forensics Committee, the formation of a unified system of general jurisdiction courts under the auspices of the single supreme judicial authority – the Supreme Court.

“Thanks to these transformations, we have developed clear modern approaches to the organization of the operation of law enforcement bodies, the division of their functions, harmonization of the efforts to ensure legality and public order,” the Belarusian leader explained. “If it is not the case or there is an overlapping of functions, if someone is concerned about someone and cannot work well because of it, please tell me, do not conceal any problems regarding the consistency, coordination and efficiency of the operation of law enforcement bodies.”