Problem of creating an effectively operating civil law principles system of the Republic of Belarus

Article 2 of the Civil Code stipulates the list of civil law principles as the basis of civil law. The legislator named it the system of principles. The author proposes and substantiates the thesis that the specified list of principles does not constitute the system because it does not have characteristics inherent to the system. Based on the methodology of system studies, the author concludes that either for functioning of the system of civil law principles, or for any other system, the number of its elements does not matter at all. The author offers to place the main emphasis on the system’s structure, peculiarities of its elements, the presence or absence of links which combine these elements, search of the systemically important criterion. The author brings in a definition of the system of civil law principles under which is proposed to understand a holistic, structurally organized unity of principles which are interacted with each other, as well as with principles of other branches of law, and guarantee effective legal regulation of civil law relations. The author introduces proposals on changes to the Article 2 of the Civil Code aimed at forming an integral and efficiently functioning system of civil law principles. More specifically it is proposed to refuse from the practice of consolidation of certain constitutional (common law) principles in civil law regulations by the way of deleting the principles of the rule of law and social orientation of the economic activities regulation from the Article 2 of the Civil Code. Also the conclusion is made on the necessity of amendment of the name of principle of public interests’ priority, or its exclusion from the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus.