Real property law (solution)

Research Strategy

1) Is it possible for a foreigner to acquire and privately hold land in Belarus?

Search engine strategy
Starting with a general search engine might be useful. Using the Google search engine (www.google.com), enter the following search query:

foreign ownership of land Belarus
One of the first hits, Legisloation (sic) firm from Byelorussia WWW Belarus provides a list of legislation from Belarus.
This link is written in poor English, which might suggest that the document it leads to will not be very useful. Nevertheless, as it is one of the first hits that Google returns it could be worth looking at.

Click on the link to Legisloation (sic) firm from Byelorussia WWW Belarus.
Although some of these links look promising, the webpage is very badly organised, in poor English and contains much outdated legislation.

Research tip
When conducting online research, always consider the following:
1) Does the information included in the website come from an authoritative source?
2) Is the website well written?
3) When was the website last updated?
4) How well organised is the website?

Returning to the hits page in Google, find the link to the Index of Economic Freedom 2006 – Belarus.
The extract provided by Google under this link states that “The Government does not permit foreigners to own land”. While this would seem to answer question 1, it is important to follow the link and read the information in full in order to gain a complete understanding of the current legal situation concerning foreign ownership of land.

Answer
No.
However, foreigners are permitted to lease land for up to 99 years.
For more details, see:
http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=Belarus

2) Is there any general legislation regarding environmentally hazardous industries?

Using the Google search engine, enter the following search query:

environmental law Belarus

One of the first links returned, Legislation Belarus, takes us to a list or directory of legislation in Belarus. In this directory you will find links to the Law on protection of the Environment(PDF) and (HTML).

The directory contains a link to the , as well as links to numerous other laws of Belarus. The answer to question 2 may be found here, although more principled Internet search techniques may also lead you to useful sources of law in Belarus.

Directory search

Discovering the Belarus legislation directory above was more or less due to luck, as we had not conducted a search aimed at finding such a directory. Such directories can be a much more useful starting point for online research than search engines.

Search engines and directories will often ultimately lead you to the same resources. However, it is sometimes better to begin your research by using an authoritative index, rather than spend time trying different combinations of keywords, phrases, domains, etc.

The information in a directory is arranged in an index with sub-categories. In addition, some directories will contain a search function which allows you to search for topics within the directory.

Maintaining a list of good law directories is essential to conducting efficient legal research online. Law directories can be found by using a standard search engine to search for queries such as:

"legal directory"

"legal research"

"legal research online"

Using the Google search engine, enter the following search query:

legal research directory foreign law

Click on the link Wash-Law Web. This link will take you to a list of online sources of law. Follow the links under the heading International Law until you get to the directory of Belarus law.

Find and click on the link to u>The National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus.

The National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus is a constantly updated source of Belarus law and related information. Information can be found by either following the various links included in the portal, or by using the search function at the top of the page.

Go to the search function and select in other sections from the pull-down menu. Enter the following search query:

environment

This will lead you to a list of documents on environmental law in Belarus. Use these documents to find the answer to question 2.

Answer
Yes.
For more details, see:
http://www.law.by/work/EnglPortal.nsf/6e1a652fbefce34ac2256d910056d559/
bd07151d5a54c4b4c2256dec004726e5?OpenDocument

3) Is there any specific legislation regarding the paper pulp industry?
Use the documents you found when researching question 2 to answer question 3.

Answer
No specific legislation regarding the paper pulp industry exists.

Further to the above questions, the partner has asked you to prepare a list of
directories of foreign law that you find during your research, which can be emailed
to your colleagues.

Use the search methods outlined in question 2 to compile your list.

Answer

Useful directories of foreign law include:
The Legal Information Institute’s Foreign Law Directory http://www.law.cornell.edu/world/
The Virtual Chase
http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/foreign.html
UKC Lawlinks Other (Non-UK) Jurisdictions
http://library.kent.ac.uk/library