A/HRC/26/44 Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations Office at Geneva for meetings and for an official visit to the country. The Special Rapporteur has received no response to any such correspondence, and again deplores that this situation limits the collection and analysis of first-hand information from in-country sources, including from the Government. 19. Notwithstanding such constraints, the Special Rapporteur has endeavoured to collect information from primary sources, which is crucial for the development of a report that is as accurate, time-bound and measured as possible. He has frequently undertaken consultationswith representatives of civil society. 20. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the cooperation he enjoys with many stakeholders living in Belarus. The Special Rapporteur collaborated with several special procedures mandate holders to transmit two allegation letters to the Government of Belarus and issue press releases on human rights concerns. The present report refers to cases that are emblematic of the nature of the human rights violations in Belarus. They do not, however, reflect the full list of allegations submitted to the Special Rapporteur. III. Rule of law 21. As previously reported, presidential decrees are used as the main, and in fact, supreme legislative mechanism in Belarus (A/HRC/23/52, para. 37). While Parliament is responsible for developing and adopting legislation, it is the Presidential Administration that prepares the drafts, and the President’s decrees can overrule existing legislation, including constitutional law, on any issue. An example is Presidential Decree No. 6 of 29 November 2013 on improvement of the judicial system, which overhauled the court system.1 22. The introduction of new or revised legislation or adoption of amendments is never the result of a consultative process and systematically excludes civil society, despite frequent requests from civil society. Examples include the 2013 amendments to the law on public associations and the Electoral Code.2 National legislation 23. Some new pieces of legislation have been developed or adopted recently. While some may introduce improvements, there still remains concern that legislation adopted allows for an interpretation restricting rights. 24. Amendments to the law on activities of political parties and other public associations were adopted on 2 October 2013 and signed by the President on 4 November; they came into force on 20 February 2014. On 16 July 2013, a petition signed by 25 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to hold special parliamentary hearings on improving these amendments was sent to Parliament. As this was refused, NGOs held their own discussion on 9 October 2013.3 They assess that, overall, the new legislation does not resolve the complicated and cumbersome registration process, the criminal liability for activities of unregistered public associations and foundations and the restrictions on receiving incountry and foreign funding. 1 2 3 http://www.oblsud.vbreste.by/2012-01-26-13-41-32/80-s-29-2013-n-6-. Belarusian Telegraph Agency, “Amendments to Belarus’ electoral law passed in first reading”, 2 October 2013 (http://news.belta.by/en/news/politics?id=728196). http://lawtrend.org/ru/data/1221/. 5