Constitution of Ukraine
Encyclopedia
The Constitution of Ukraine is the nation's fundamental law
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada
Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is Ukraine's parliament. The Verkhovna Rada is a unicameral parliament composed of 450 deputies, which is presided over by a chairman...

(parliament) of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 on 28 June 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes out of 450 votes possible (300 ayes minimum).

Other laws and other normative legal acts of Ukraine must conform to the constitution. The right to amend the constitution through a special legislative procedure is vested exclusively with the parliament. The only body that may interpret the constitution and determine whether legislation conforms to it is the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
Constitutional Court of Ukraine
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine and decides whether laws and other legal acts are constitutional....

.

History

Until June 8, 1995, Ukraine's supreme law was the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...

 (adopted in 1978, with numerous later amendments). On June 8, 1995, President Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...

 and Speaker Oleksandr Moroz
Oleksandr Moroz
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Moroz is a Ukrainian statesman and politician. He was the Speaker of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine twice: July 2006 to September 2007, and previously in 1994 through 1998. Moroz is one of the founders and leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, which was an influential...

 (acting on behalf of the parliament) signed the Constitutional Agreement for the period until a new constitution could be drafted.

The first constitution since independence was adopted during an overnight parliamentary session of June 27-June 28, 1996, un-officially known as "the constitutional night of 1996." The Law No. 254/96-BP ratifying the constitution, nullifying previous constitutions and the Agreement was ceremonially signed and promulgated in mid-July 1996. However, according to a ruling of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
Constitutional Court of Ukraine
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine and decides whether laws and other legal acts are constitutional....

, the constitution took force at the moment when the results of the parliamentary vote were announced on June 28, 1996 at approx. 9 a.m. Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 local time.

Structure

The Constitution of Ukraine is divided into 15 chapters:
  1. General Principles
  2. Human and Citizens' Rights, Freedoms and Duties
  3. Elections. Referendums
  4. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
  5. President of Ukraine
  6. Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Other Bodies of Executive Power
  7. Prokuratura
  8. Justice
  9. Territorial Structure of Ukraine
  10. Autonomous Republic of Crimea
  11. Local Self-Government
  12. Constitutional Court of Ukraine
  13. Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine
  14. Final Provisions
  15. Transitional Provisions

Amendments

In accordance with Chapter XIII: Ukraine's Constitution can only be amended with the consent of no less than two-thirds of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

In addition amendments to Chapter I — "General Principles," Chapter III — "Elections. Referendum," and Chapter XIII — "Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine," can only be amended by the parliament of Ukraine on the condition that it is also approved by an All-Ukrainian referendum designated by the President of Ukraine.

2004 - 2010 amendments

On December 8, 2004, the parliament passed Law No. 2222-IV amending the constitution. The law was approved with a 90 percent majority (402 ayes, 21 nays, and 19 abstentions; 300 ayes required for passage) simultaneously with other legislative measures aimed at resolving the 2004 presidential election crisis
Ukrainian presidential election, 2004
The Ukrainian presidential election, 2004 was held on October 31, November 21 and December 26, 2004. The election was the fourth presidential election to take place in Ukraine following independence from the Soviet Union...

. It was signed almost immediately in the parliamentary chamber by the outgoing President Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk...

 and promulgated on the same day.

The 2004 constitutional amendments were passed in the Parliament only with limited consultation and discussion between political forces, in the context of the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...

. They attracted therefore criticism from several internal (Ukrainian political parties) and external bodies (the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...

, the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 and the Venice Commission
Venice Commission
The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin wall, at a time of urgent need for constitutional assistance in Central and Eastern Europe...

).

Most of the amendments were scheduled to take force on September 1, 2005, conditionally on passing a set of amendments reforming local self-government by that date. Since the reform of the self-government was not implemented, the amendments took force unconditionally on January 1, 2006. The remaining amendments took force on May 25, 2006, when the new parliament assembled after the 2006 elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2006
The Ukrainian parliamentary election took place on March 26, 2006. Election campaigning officially began on July 7, 2005. Between November 26 and December 31, 2005 party lists of candidates were formed....

.

On October 1, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
Constitutional Court of Ukraine
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine and decides whether laws and other legal acts are constitutional....

 overturned the 2004 amendments, considering them unconstitutional. The Court had started to consider the case on the political reform in 2004 under a motion from 252 coalition
Azarov Government
The first Azarov Government was appointed on March 11, 2010 as part of the "Stability and Reform" coalition between the Party of Regions, Lytvyn Bloc and the Communist Party of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament...

 lawmakers regarding the constitutionality of this reform of July 14, 2010.

On November 18, 2010 The Venice Commission
Venice Commission
The Venice Commission is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin wall, at a time of urgent need for constitutional assistance in Central and Eastern Europe...

 published its report titled "The opinion of the Constitutional situation in Ukraine", in review of the judgement of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, in which it highlighted "It (The Venice Commission) also considers highly unusual that far-reaching constitutional amendments, including the change of the political system of the country - from a parliamentary system to a parliamentary presidential one - are declared unconstitutional by a decision of the Constitutional Court after a period of 6 years. ... As Constitutional Courts are bound by the Constitution and do not stand above it, such decisions raise important questions of democratic legitimacy and the rule of law"

See also

Previous Constitutions
  • Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, a 1710 constitutional document written by Hetman
    Hetman
    Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....

     Pylyp Orlyk
    Pylyp Orlyk
    Pylyp Stepanovych Orlyk Pylyp Stepanovych Orlyk Pylyp Stepanovych Orlyk (born on October 11, 1672 in Kosuta, Ashmyany county, Grand Duchy of Lithuania (today in Vileyka Raion, Belarus), died on May 26, 1742 in Jassy, Principality of Moldavia (today Iaşi, Romania) was a Zaporozhian Cossack...

    .
  • Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic
    Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic
    The Constitution of Ukrainian National Republic is a constitutional document approved by the Central Rada on April 29, 1918, but never announced. Hence the document never acquired the legal power and remained forever as an important document from the period of the Ukrainian National Republic from...

  • Constitutions of the Ukrainian SSR
    Ukrainian SSR
    The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...

    • Constitution of 1919
      • Amendments of 1925
    • Constitution of 1929
    • Constitution of 1937
    • Constitution of 1978
  • Constitution of Crimea
    Constitution of Crimea
    Constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is the basic law of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a republic within southern Ukraine. The constitution establishes the republic's status and authority within Ukraine....


Others
  • Constitutional economics
    Constitutional economics
    Constitutional economics is a research program in economics and constitutionalism that has been described as extending beyond the definition of 'the economic analysis of constitutional law' in explaining the choice "of alternative sets of legal-institutional-constitutional rules that constrain the...

  • Constitutionalism
    Constitutionalism
    Constitutionalism has a variety of meanings. Most generally, it is "a complex of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law"....

  • Rule according to higher law
    Rule according to higher law
    The rule according to a higher law means that no written law may be enforced by the government unless it conforms with certain unwritten, universal principles of fairness, morality, and justice...

  • Mini Constitution of Ukraine
    Mini Constitution of Ukraine
    Mini Constitution of Ukraine - a smaller version of the modern Constitution, size 21–32 mm. This is the first and, so far, the only Manuscript mini-version of a Basic Law in the post-Soviet states.- Material:...


External links

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