The Constitutional Court of Ukraine (, ) is the sole body of constitutional

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the

Constitution of Ukraine The Constitution of Ukraine (, ) is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ''Verkhovna Rada'', the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes o ...

in terms of laws and other legal acts. The Court initiated its activity on 18 October 1996. The first Court ruling was made on 13 May 1997. On urgent matters the Constitutional Court rules within weeks, but on matters deemed less urgent it can take months.Yanukovych to call vote if coalition ruled illegal

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

(1 March 2010) Decisions of the Constitutional Court are binding, final, and cannot be appealed.Transparency International: Constitutional Court ruling ‘undermines anti-corruption achievements in Ukraine’

(2 March 2019)

Mission and authority

In 2016, access to the Constitutional Court was significantly broadened.Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine passed: Ukraine takes a major step towards a European System of Justice
Lexology (9 June 2016) Since then all individuals and companies where there are grounds to claim that a final court judgment contradicts the Constitution can file a complaint at the court. (Prior only the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and a member of parliament had the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court.) A complaint may only be filed after all other remedies have been exhausted in the regular Ukrainian courts. The authority of the Constitutional Court is derived from Ukraine's Constitution – Chapter XII The Court: * on the appeal of the President, no less than 45 members of the

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, the

Supreme Court of Ukraine The Supreme Court of Ukraine () is the highest judicial body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction in Ukraine.Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

, or the Crimean parliament, assesses the constitutionality of: ** laws and other legal acts of the parliament ** acts of the President ** acts of the Cabinet ** legal acts of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

of the

Autonomous Republic of Crimea The Autonomous Republic of Crimea is a ''de jure'' administrative division of Ukraine encompassing most of Crimea that was unilaterally annexed by Russia in 2014. The Autonomous Republic of Crimea occupies most of the peninsula,Cabinet, provides opinions on the conformity with the Constitution of international treaties * on the appeal of the parliament, provides an opinion on the observance of the procedure of impeachment of the President * provides an opinion on the compliance of a bill on introducing amendments to the Constitution with the restrictions imposed by the Constitution. The Court's rulings are mandatory for execution in Ukraine, are final and cannot be appealed. Laws and other legal acts, or their separate provisions, that are deemed unconstitutional, lose legal force.

Structure

The Court is composed of 18 judges, appointed in equal shares by the President, the parliament, and the Congress of Judges. A judge must be a citizen of Ukraine and must have: * attained the age of forty; * a higher legal education and professional experience of no less than 10 years; * resided in Ukraine for the last twenty years; * command of the state language (

Ukrainian language Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians. Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...

) Judges are appointed for 9 years without the right of reappointment; moreover each judge is obligated to retire at the age of 65 if this age comes before the end of the 9-year period. The President and parliament are required to fill a vacant position within one month and the Congress of judges has three months to do so. But the appointment comes into effect only after oath of the new judge in the parliament; therefore sometimes it is a problem to become a judge of the Constitutional Court if many members of parliament do not want this (for example, they can physically disturb to hold a meeting of the parliament, that is usual in Ukraine). The Chairman of the Court is elected by secret ballot for a single three-year term from and by the members of the Court.

Controversies

On 29 December 1999 the Court interpreted the Constitution as unconditionally ruling out

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

; this is the date when Ukraine de jure abolished capital punishment after a long period of a de facto moratorium. In the 2000s attempts to bribe and blackmail Constitutional Court judges to get a favourable ruling were reported. On 14 November 2001 the Court outlawed the institution of propiska. On 25 December 2003 the Court allowed

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

to run for

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

for the third time; Kuchma chose not to run for re-election. Amidst the

2007 Ukrainian political crisis The political crisis in Ukraine lasted from April to June 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of Verkhovna Rada that led to the unscheduled 2007 Ukrainian parliamentary election. It started on 2 April 20 ...

, on 30 April 2007, on the eve of the Constitutional Court's ruling on the legality of the president's decree dismissing Ukraine's parliament, President Yushchenko, in defiance of the PACE resolution of 19 April intervened in the operation of Ukraine's Constitutional Court by summarily dismissing two Constitutional Court Judges, Syuzanna Stanik and Valeriy Pshenychnyy, for allegations of "oath treason." His move was later overturned by the Constitutional Court and the judges were returned by a

temporary restraining order An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

issued by the court. On 16 May, Viktor Yushchenko, for a second time, issued another decree dismissing the two Constitutional Court Judges Syuzanna Stanik and Valeriy Pshenychnyy. On 17 May, the Constitutional Court chairman Ivan Dombrovskyy resigned and was replaced by Valeriy Pshenychnyy. On 23 May, The Constitutional Court of Ukraine acted to prevent the president's undue influence on the court system. The court's ruling was made after Viktor Yushchenko was accused of unduly seeing to influence the court by illegally firing two Constitutional Court judges Valeriy Pshenychnyy and Syuzanna Stanik for allegations of "oath treason.". On 20 July, Syuzanna Stanik won an appeal against the President in the Shevchenko district court of Kyiv. The Court ruled the President's actions illegal and reinstated Ms Stanik's entitlement as a member of Ukraine's Constitutional Court. According to the ruling, the President is obliged to cancel his decree on discharge of Mrs. Stanik.." The other two judges who were also illegally dismissed had previously tendered their resignations and as such were not subject to the courts order. Following the president's intervention the Constitutional Court still has not ruled on the question of legality of the president's actions. On 25 March 2008 Ukraine's Supreme Administrative Court ruled the President's dismissal of Syuzanna Stanik as a Constitutional Court judge illegal. Ms Stanik's position has been reinstated. The decision is final and not subject to further appeal On 3 April 2008 Stanik was dismissed from the Court by the order of the President.Order of the President of Ukraine № 297/2008
(in Ukrainian) On 28 April 2010, President

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (born 9 July 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014. He also served as the prime minister of Ukraine several times between 2002 and 2007 and was a member of t ...

reinstated Stanik as Constitutional Court judge. She resigned the next day. On 1 October 2010 the Court determined the 2004 amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine unconstitutional, repealing them. On 21 February 2014

passed a law that reinstated these December 2004 amendments (of the constitution). On 27 October 2020 the court decision to repeal Article 366-1 of the

Criminal Code of Ukraine The legal system of Ukraine is based on civil law, and belongs to the Romano-Germanic legal tradition. The main source of legal information is codified law. Customary law and case law are not as common, though case law is often used in support ...

, which had provided for liability for inaccurate declaration of assets by government officials pushed Ukraine into the 2020 Ukrainian constitutional crisis. This decision ''de facto'' invalidated much of Ukraine's 2014 anti-

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

reform as

unconstitutional In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...

. On 29 December 2020 President

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

suspended the courts chairperson Oleksandr Tupytskyi for two months in an effort to end the crisis. On 26 February 2021 President Zelensky signed a decree that suspended chairperson Tupytskyi for another month.Zelensky suspended the head of the Constitutional Court for another month

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' is a Ukrainian socio-political online media outlet founded by Heorhii Gongadze in April 2000. After Gongadze’s death in September 2000, the editorial team was led by co-founder Olena Prytula, who remained the editor-in ...

(26 February 2021) On 27 March 2021 Zelensky annulled the decree of former President

of May 2013, appointing Oleksandr Tupytskyi a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The reason given was that allegedly his tenure did "pose a threat to state independence and national security of Ukraine, which violates the Constitution of Ukraine, human and civil rights and freedoms."Zelensky annuls Yanukovych's decree appointing Tupytsky as judge of Constitutional Court

UNIAN The Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News () is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian news agency. It produces and provides political, business and financial information, and a photo reporting service. As of October 2022, it was the most v ...

(27 March 2021)Zelensky cancels decrees on appointment of Tupytsky, Kasminin as Constitutional Court judges

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of IndependenceDecisions on Tupytsky, Kasminin are result of audit of Yanukovych's decrees, these persons can now retire – Zelensky

Interfax-Ukraine Interfax-Ukraine () is a Ukrainian news agency. Founded in 1992, the company publishes in Ukrainian, Russian, English and German. The company owns a 50-seat press centre. The staff of the agency is 105 people (as of the end of February 2022) ...

(27 March 2021)Zelensky revoked Yanukovych's decree appointing Tupytsky a judge of the CCU

(27 March 2021) As a result, for some time, it was unclear who was the Chairperson of the Court.

Reforms

On 17 August 2023, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law on the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court. At the end of July 2023, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of Ukraine on the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court with the participation of international experts. According to the law, the selection will be carried out with the participation of the Advisory Group of Experts. Half of these experts will be people delegated by international organizations and the Venice Commission, who will have a decisive vote in filtering candidates for the Constitutional Court. This law was one of the requirements of the European Commission for the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

Membership

List of judges

* President's quota: ** Volodymyr Kampo (Володимир Михайлович Кампо) since 4 August 2006 ** Dmytro Lylak (Дмитро Дмитрович Лилак) since 4 August 2006 ** Viktor Shyshkin (Віктор Іванович Шишкін) since 4 August 2006 ** Yurij Baulin (Юрій Васильович Баулін) since 3 June 2007 ** Sergij Vdovichenko (Вдовіченко Сергій Леонідович) since 3 June 2007 ** Yurij Nikitin (Юрій Іванович Нікітін) since 3 June 2007 * Parliament's quota: Dismissed in 2014 * Congress of judges' quota: ** Vasyl Bryntsev (Василь Дмитрович Бринцев) since 4 August 2006 ** Vyacheslav Dzhun' (В’ячеслав Васильович Джунь) since 4 August 2006 ** Anatoliy Didkivskyy (Анатолій Олександрович Дідківський) since 4 August 2006 ** Ivan Dombrovskyy (Іван Петрович Домбровський) since 4 August 2006; ** Yaroslava Machuzhak (Ярослава Василівна Мачужак) since 4 August 2006 ** Andriy Stryzhak (Андрій Андрійович Стрижак) since 4 August 2006 (appointed to the court in 2004, but not sworn in until 2006)

Chairpersons

* 1992–1995 Leonid Yuzkov * 1996–1999 Ivan Tymchenko * 1999–2002 Viktor Skomorokha * 2002–2005 Mykola Selivon * 2005–2006 '' Pavlo Yevhrafov'' (acting) * 2006-2006 '' Volodymyr Ivashchenko'' (acting) * 2006–2007 Ivan Dombrovskyy * 2007-2007 '' Valeriy Pshenychnyy'' (acting) * 2007–2010 Andriy Stryzhak * 2010–2013 Anatolii Holovin * 2013–2014 Vyacheslav Ovcharenko * 2014–2017 Yuriy Baulin * 2017–2018 '' Viktor Kryvenko'' (acting) * 2018–2019 Stanislav Shevchuk *2019 Nataliya Shaptala (acting) *2019–2022 Oleksandr TupytskyiUkraine's Constitutional Court elects new chairman

Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine (), or Ukrinform (), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of Ukraine. It was founded in 1918 during the Ukrainian War of Independence Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

suspended Tupytskyi for two months in an effort to end the 2020 Ukrainian constitutional crisis.Zelensky suspends Constitutional Court chair for two months

(29 December 2020)

References

External links

Official web-site of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

Official web-site of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

Law of Ukraine "On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine" No. 422/96-ВР, dated October 16, 1996, promulgated October 22, 1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constitutional Court Of Ukraine

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Government of Ukraine Constitutional Court of Ukraine Judiciary of Ukraine