On Communications Law of the Republic of Belarus

No. 3273-Z of October 5, 1994

The present Law establishes the rights and duties of the state bodies, economic entities in management, possession and disposal of means of communication and rendering communication services. The Law protects the interests of users of communication services.

Article 1. The Purpose of Communication

The communication is one of the main parts of economic and social infrastructure of the Republic of Belarus and aimed to satisfy the need of the state bodies, legal and natural persons for electric and post communication.

The net of the electric communication - the complex of technical means that provide transmission and reception of signals reflecting sounds, images, written text, signs or messages of any other kind through wire, optical, radio system or other electromagnetic systems.

The net of post communication-the complete system of enterprises of communication and transportation that provide the reception, remaking, transportation and delivery of post sendings, pensions and allowances, and also distribution of periodical press and rendering other additional services.

Article 2. Legislation of the Republic of Belarus on Communication

The legislation of the Republic of Belarus on communication shall consist of the Constitution, the present Law and other normative acts.

The rules of rendering the communication services, usage of means of communication and frequency resource shall be established in order determined by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 3. Property on Nets and Means of Communication

On the territory of the Republic of Belarus the subjects of the economic activity rendering the communication services shall be created on the basis of various forms of ownership.

The nets of electric communication can be in the state ownership and also in ownership of legal and natural persons.

The exclusive right to creation of net of postal communication in the Republic of Belarus with the usage of signs of postal payment shall belong to the state in order determined by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

The property of state communication enterprises shall be regarded exclusively as a republican property.

Article 4. The State Management of Communication

The state management of communication in the Republic of Belarus shall be executed by a specially authorized by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus body of executive power.*

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* further-body of communication management

The body of communication management shall have a right to control the state of all nets of electric communication having an exit to national nets of electric communication according to legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

The coordination of interdepartmental issues in the sphere of development of communication and informatics shall be carried out by the Joint Coordination Council at the body of communication management. The composition of the Council and its Statute shall be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 5. Radio-frequency Resource and Geostationary Orbit

The radio-frequency resource and geostationary orbit present the limited natural resources and their management of exploitation shall be an exclusive right of the state.

The working out and realization of policy in the sphere of planning, distributing and effective usage of radio-frequency resource and also provision of electromagnetic compatibility of radio electric means shall be carried out by the State Commission on Radio Frequencies, its composition and statute shall be established by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.

The state bodies in accordance with international treaties shall provide international legal protection frequency territorial appropriations of radio electric means and also radio frequencies and location centers of geostationary space stations belonging to the Republic of Belarus.

Radio electric means of communication that are the sources of electromagnetic radiation are subjected to registration by bodies of the State Inspection of Electric Communication of the Republic of Belarus. The order of their registration shall be determined by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 6. The Licensing and Certification

The activity of legal and natural persons in the sphere of communication in the Republic of Belarus and also the usage of radio-frequency resource shall be carried out on the basis on licenses (special permits).

The order of licensing shall be established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus. Besides, the legislation can set forth the limits of competition on certain kinds of activity in the sphere of communication by issuing the limited amount of licenses.

The means of communication of public usage, radio electronic means of communication for individual use with the radio radiation shall be a subjected to certification, except for radio amateur devices that work in permitted diapason.

Legal and natural persons that act in the sphere of communication without a license or with violation of the order of their usage and also without necessary certificates shall be responsible under the present legislation.

Article 7. Departmental Communication and Communication of Legal and Natural persons

In order to satisfy the industrial and other needs the state enterprises, establishments and organizations can create the necessary kinds of communication of their own, radio navigation, signalization (departmental communication) in order established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Legal and natural persons including foreign ones also can create their own necessary kinds of communication in the same order as the state enterprises, establishments and organizations.

The departmental nets and means of communication, nets and means of communication of legal and natural persons can be included into state communication net.

Only the certified in established order means of communication shall be allowed to access the state net of communication.

In the case of violation of rules of technical exploitation by the owners of departmental nets and means of communication and also of the nets and means of communication that belong to legal and natural persons the state enterprises of communication shall have a right to turn this nets and means of communication off from the state net.

The governmental communication is the special system of communication that functions for the interest of bodies of the state authority in order to be established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 8. The Usage of Communication Lands

The land shall be given to the economic entities that function in the sphere of communication in the order and on the conditions determined by the Code on Land of the Republic of Belarus and by other legislation of the Republic of Belarus at the size that is necessary in order to carry out their activity.

The economic entities according to the legislation of the Republic of Belarus shall have a right to build the communication lines through bridges, tunnels, streets and buildings, collectors and prohibited areas, forests.

Article 9. Protection of Means, Constructions of Communication and Radio-frequency Resource

The means and constructions of communication and radio-frequency resource shall be under the state protection.

In order to provide the exploitation of technical means, continuous work and safety of communication systems, constructions and other objects of communication the protection zones shall be established and cuttings in the forests shall be created.

The order of protection of means, construction of communication and radio-frequency resource shall be determined by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

The local Soviets of Delegates, executive and administrative bodies shall be obliged without delay to give assistance to communication enterprises in elimination of incidents caused by natural disasters and in restoration of means of communication by giving the labor power if necessary, transport and technical means with the compensation of the costs according to the established order.

Article 10. Development of Means of Communication

The financing of development, reconstruction of nets and means of communication of public usage shall be executed through funds directed on development of the infrastructure.

While projecting new and while reconstructing of present public constructions and buildings and dwelling houses, the executive and administrative bodies, ministries, state committees, departments and economic entities shall be obliged to consider the telephonization and radiofication of these buildings, constructions and dwelling houses upon the consent with the relevant communication enterprises under the established norms, and also the development of post boxes in porches of dwelling houses that have two or more floors and to provide the execution of these works together with other communications.

Article 11. The Secret of Correspondence, of Telephone and Other Messages

The secret of correspondence, of telephone and other messages shall be protected by law.

The employees of the communication enterprises shall be obliged to keep the secret of correspondence of persons who use the communication services and not to violate the secret of telephone talks, telegraph and other messages if other shall not provided by law.

The employees of communication enterprises, officials and other persons, who tolerated the violation of these provisions shall be brought to responsibility according to the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 12. Advantages and Privileges while Using the Means of Communication

For certain officials of the Republic of Belarus, of other states and international organizations in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus and international agreements the privileges while using the state postal, telephone, telegraph and other means of communication can be established.

The list of officials and the order of use the means of communication shall be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus and also by the international agreements.

For certain categories of citizens the advantages concerning the granting, the usage and payments of communication services can be provided by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 13. Tariffs on Communication Services

The tariffs on the communication services shall be established in order determined by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

While determining the advantages on payment of communication services according to the legislation of the Republic of Belarus, the compensation of sums of income not received shall be carried out to the communication enterprises from the republican budget, in other cases shall be carried out by the legal entities or bodies that have established those advantages.

Article 14. Usage of Transportation Means

The economic entities in the sphere of communication shall have the preferred right to use the rail, sea, river, air and automobile transport of public use in order to deliver the post to destination, and also for transportation of incident-reconstructive teams and technical means with a payment at the expense of relevant communication enterprises

Other enterprises, establishments and organizations cannot use transportation means belonging to the state communication enterprises and used for technologic needs for executing the works not related to the activity of the communication enterprises.

Article 15. The Issue of Notifications of Postal Payment

The exclusive right to issue the notifications of postal payment shall belong to the body of communication management.

The body of communication management shall establish the examples of notifications of postal payment, their nominal value and drawing, shall organize issue and distribution of these notifications is organized.

Article 16. The Right to Use the Communication

Any private or legal person in the territory of the Republic of Belarus shall be granted the right to use the state nets of communication for public purposes under condition of observance of the rules of usage of means of communication to be established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

The messages concerning the safety of human life on sea, land, in the air and in space including epidemic messages shall be transmitted in preferred order in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus in cases of natural disasters, epidemics, epizootics and other emergencies shall have a right to hold on the activity of any nets and means of communication and also the right of primary usage of any nets and means of communication regardless of their belonging.

Article 17. Responsibility for Rendering Communication Services

The economic entities rendering communication services shall bare material responsibility in front of a client for its not caring out or caring out improperly, except cases provided by article 18 of the present Law or by international conventions, agreements and their executing regulations.

Article 18. Release from Responsibility

The enterprises that render the communication services shall be released from the responsibility:

for damage caused as a result of insuperable force*;

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* Under insuperable force in the present Law shall be supposed the technical obstacles or interruptions in rendering communication services that appear independently of the will of the enterprise as a result of natural disaster, accident or other emergencies, which could not be foreseen or prevented.

if the damage or elimination of postal sending has happened as a result of senders fault;

if the damage or elimination of postal sending has happened as a result of its special features;

if the postal sending is received by a client in the established order;

if the postal documentary sending is eliminated, confiscated on the grounds established by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 19. The Order of Giving the Information on Postal Sendings and Messages Transmitted

Information on postal sendings or messages being transmitted through the nets of electric communication can be given by the enterprise that render the communication services only to a sender, addressee or their representatives, and also to the relevant state bodies in cases provided by law.

Article 20. The Limits of Forwarding the Postal Sendings

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus shall have a right to establish the temporary limits on reception of the postal sendings. In cases if the suspicions on presence of banned substances or things appear, the employees of the communication enterprise shall have a right to demand the sender to show the package or book-post opened. In case the sender does not agree to it, the employee of communication enterprise shall have a right to refuse to receive the sending.

Article 21. The Customs Control Over Postal Sendings

International postal sending while moving through the custom border of the Republic of Belarus shall be brought before the customs bodies for the control by postal enterprises.

The order of moving the things through the custom border in international postal sendings shall be determined by the legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

Article 22. The Time Used in Communication

In technical processes of transmitting the messages and information by the legal and natural persons on the territory of the Republic of Belarus the only time used shall be Belarusian.

Article 23. International Cooperation

The international treaties shall regulate international cooperation in the sphere of communication

If the international treaties of the Republic of Belarus establish other rules than contained in the present Law, the rules of international treaties shall be used.

Article 24. Responsibility for Violation of the Legislation of the Republic of Belarus on Communication

The persons who break the requirements of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus on communication shall be bring to responsibility according to the legislation in force.

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