On 30 June 2025, by order of A.G. Lukashenka, a new Deputy Minister of Justice was appointed — Iryna Stepuro, formerly First Deputy Head of the Main State-Legal Directorate of the Presidential Administration.
On 10 July 2025, a meeting of the Council of the Belarusian Republican Bar Association (BRBA) was held, attended by the new Deputy Minister of Justice.
According to a post in the BRBA’s official Telegram channel, Stepuro noted that she used the meeting as an opportunity to become better acquainted with representatives of the bar. She also “drew the participants’ attention to the main tasks facing the country’s legal profession”.
She stressed:
“It is important not only to take into account the interests of the client,
but also to understand that you represent the State.”
This statement is a continuation of the regime’s policy of conflating attorneys with the state system (recall Lukashenka’s words about “state people”, echoed by former Minister of Justice Sergei Khomenko). The core principle of the legal profession, however, is its independence from external influence and pressure, ensuring that attorneys can carry out their professional duties free from threats or attempts by the state to interfere in self-regulation.
Unfortunately, according to the BRBA’s Telegram channel, no objections were voiced and no reminder was given to Stepuro of this fundamental principle.
As we have repeatedly noted, in Belarus the bar has been turned into a tool for the state to use whenever needed — whether to legitimise repressive laws or to advance state propaganda. Under current circumstances, no significant reversal of the ongoing degradation of the institution is to be expected.
On 10 July 2025, a meeting of the Council of the Belarusian Republican Bar Association (BRBA) was held, attended by the new Deputy Minister of Justice.
According to a post in the BRBA’s official Telegram channel, Stepuro noted that she used the meeting as an opportunity to become better acquainted with representatives of the bar. She also “drew the participants’ attention to the main tasks facing the country’s legal profession”.
She stressed:
“It is important not only to take into account the interests of the client,
but also to understand that you represent the State.”
This statement is a continuation of the regime’s policy of conflating attorneys with the state system (recall Lukashenka’s words about “state people”, echoed by former Minister of Justice Sergei Khomenko). The core principle of the legal profession, however, is its independence from external influence and pressure, ensuring that attorneys can carry out their professional duties free from threats or attempts by the state to interfere in self-regulation.
Unfortunately, according to the BRBA’s Telegram channel, no objections were voiced and no reminder was given to Stepuro of this fundamental principle.
As we have repeatedly noted, in Belarus the bar has been turned into a tool for the state to use whenever needed — whether to legitimise repressive laws or to advance state propaganda. Under current circumstances, no significant reversal of the ongoing degradation of the institution is to be expected.
