Exhibition «Под защитой закона»

On June 23, 2023, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus opened a documentary exhibition Under the Protection of the Law dedicated to Lawyer’s Day.

The history of the establishment of the institution of the Bar in Belarus begins on June 26, 1922, thanks to the adoption of the relevant Regulations. The profession of a lawyer is considered to be one of the most responsible and necessary for the existence of the rule of law. Protecting society from injustice, lawyers strengthen people’s sense of confidence and security. Being a lawyer is a huge responsibility, since this profession requires those who have chosen it to have the highest moral qualities, and above all, great diligence, great endurance, decency and justice, the ability to hear and understand people. It is a lawyer who, under certain circumstances, can change the fate of a person, help in resolving life’s problems, but help must be timely, since any legal problem, by analogy with a disease, is always easier to prevent.

The modern stage in the development of the Belarusian legal profession began with the adoption by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus on June 15, 1993 of the Law “On the Bar”, in which the first of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States took into account the domestic and world experience in the organization and activities of this institution.

Today, the bar in the Republic of Belarus is a legal institution designed to carry out professional human rights activities, provide qualified legal assistance to citizens and legal entities, to everyone who needs it. Lawyers participate in the explanation of legislation and legal education of the population. With all its activities, the bar serves the principles of legality, justice and humanism.

The exhibition, prepared by the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, presents archival documents reflecting the process of formation and development of the institution of the bar, when the state authorities of Belarus searched for fundamentally new forms of organizing criminal defense and providing legal assistance to the population. These are the Regulations on the Bar of 1922, instructions, orders of the People’s Commissariat of Justice, protocols of the Presidium of the All-Belarusian Association of Bar Associations, resolutions of the Council of Ministers of the Byelorussian SSR, the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the Bar”, etc.

1. Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus A.K. Demyanuk and head. Department of the Use of Documents and Information of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus M.A. Starostenko introduces the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus S.N. Khomenko and Deputy. Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus N.M. Starovoitov with exhibition materials

2. Head. Department of the use of documents and information of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus M.A. Starostenko acquaints the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus S.N. Khomenko with the materials of the exhibition

3. Director of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus A.K. Demyanuk and head. Department of Documents and Information Use of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus M.A. Starostenko acquaints guests with the materials of the exhibition

4. Head. Department of the use of documents and information of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus M.A. Starostenko acquaints guests with the materials of the exhibition

5. Guests of the event get acquainted with the materials of the exhibition