The Death Penalty in the OSCE Area 17 According to the wording of Article 24 of the Constitution, a specific decision on use of the death penalty in Belarus falls within the competence of the head of state and the parliament; the Constitutional Court noted this in its judgement. On the whole, we can say that abolishing the death penalty by a resolution of the legislative body is more acceptable from the point of view of law. When this is done by constitutional courts, which suddenly explain the constitutional and legal meaning of constitutional norms, there immediately arise doubts as to the legitimacy of death sentences handed down in the past based on the Constitution and applicable legislation. Such a serious issue as the deprivation of a person’s life requires a watertight legal foundation. And it is for this reason that Article 24 of the Constitution from the outset included two ideas: 1) that the death penalty may only be applied in accordance with the law and in accordance with the verdict of a court of law; 2) the temporary nature of the death penalty. Based on what we have outlined here, we can say that Belarus is moving towards abolition of the death penalty.