60th anniversary of the adoption of the Civil Code of the BSSR in documents of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus

Civil law is one of the most important branches of law, which regulates all property and a number of non-property relations between citizens and legal entities. Civil law covers a variety of issues related to property, transactions and obligations – from sales and lease agreements to copyright and inheritance of property.

The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter – NARB) stores documents on the development and adoption on June 11, 1964 of the Civil Code of the BSSR, which became the first national experience in sectoral codification of civil legislation. Its development and adoption resulted from the need to update the previous Civil Code of 1923, which reflected the outdated realities of the NEP and did not correspond to the prevailing situation in the USSR in the 1930s – 1960s. economic system. The Civil Code of 1964 defined the content and objects of each form of socialist property, codified copyright and invention rights for the first time, and introduced a rule on the protection of the honor and dignity of citizens. Thanks to the successful structure and universal nature of many norms, the Civil Code of 1964 (with amendments and additions) regulated civil legal relations until the entry into force of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, adopted in 1998. Many of its provisions served as the foundation for building a system of modern Belarusian civil legislation.

The NARB documents reflect the enormous work that has been done by Belarusian jurists to codify civil legislation. The most valuable documents are in fund No.968 «The Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus». These are documents on the consideration and amendment of the draft Code, drafts of the Code with handwritten edits by its developers, as well as documents on the adoption and entry into force of the Code and its full text. On May 29, 1964, by the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR, the draft Code was approved and submitted for consideration to the third session of the Supreme Council of the BSSR. On June 11, 1964, the Supreme Council of the BSSR adopted the Law «On the approval of the Civil Code of the Belarusian SSR». On the same day, the Civil Procedure Code of the BSSR was adopted, which regulated various issues related to the application of civil law. On September 2, 1964, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR «On the procedure for enacting the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the Byelorussian SSR» was adopted, which resolved specific issues related to the enactment of the codes. The NARB stores the originals of these documents with the signatures of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR V.I.Kozlov and his deputy F.A.Surganov.

1. Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the progress of preparing drafts of the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 1)

2. Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the progress of preparing drafts of the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 2)

3. Conclusion of the Public Council on Legal Issues under the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR

4. Information on the progress of the preparation of draft Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR

5. Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR on the approval of the draft Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR

6. Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the draft Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR

7. Law of the BSSR on the approval of the Civil Code of the BSSR (sheet 1)

8. Law of the BSSR on the approval of the Civil Code of the BSSR (sheet 2)

9. Law of the BSSR on the approval of the Civil Procedure Code of the BSSR (sheet 1)

10. Law of the BSSR on the approval of the Civil Procedure Code of the BSSR (sheet 2)

11. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the procedure for introducing into force the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 1)

12. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the procedure for enacting the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 2)

13. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the procedure for enacting the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 3)

14. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the procedure for enacting the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 4)

15. Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the BSSR on the procedure for enacting the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes of the BSSR (sheet 5)