ABSTRACT
Following the widespread repressions that began in August 2020, it has become commonplace to discount law and its relevance as an independent regulator of social relations in Belarus. At the same time, it is not that law was simply abdicated, rather it appears to have been instrumentalised by the authorities in the most ruthless manner. Against this background, this chapter sets out to examine the independent role of law as an agent of change. Using the German Supreme Court's case law on the legality of killings by East German border guards as a comparative framework, it examines the possibility of bringing to justice the perpetrators of repressions even under the law in force at the time of the events, but considering the overarching legal requirements of constitutional rule of law and human rights. It argues that Belarusian law is imbued with a centuries-old rule of law tradition, and that there is a constitutional core of civic rights that cannot be done away with by changing legislation, e.g. in the field of public security. Thus, a future independent judiciary will in no way be prevented from establishing criminal liability for the acts of repression committed.
