Instytucja referendum ogólnopaństwowego w Republice Białorusi i Federacji Rosyjskiej. Wymiar formalny

The author has analyzed the formal-dogmatic institution of referendum at the national level in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation. The analysis was made on the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus of 1994, the Electoral Code of the Republic of Belarus of 2000, the Constitution of the Russian Federation of 1993 and the Federal Constitutional Act on Referendum of 2004. The detailed analysis allowed to confirm the hypothesis of a high convergence of legal acts in this area. The referendum is legal, but it does not translate into a practical dimension. By 2017, one referendum has been held in Belarus on the basis of the aforementioned legislative acts in 2004, while in the Russian Federation there has not been any. Accordingly, the author concludes that the institution of the national referendum in the Republic of Belarus is treated in an instrumental way and serves primarily to legitimize the policy of Alexander Lukashenka, while in the Russian Federation the national referendum provisions are a void law to restrict civic participation.