Darmoeds: The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has not made a single decision in a year
During the year, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine did not make a single decision or provide a single conclusion, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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This was stated at a round table at the Gorshenin Institute by Yulia Kirichenko, a member of the Council of the Reanimation Package of Reforms and an expert on constitutional law.
According to her, there is virtually no constitutional proceedings in the country. This is due to several reasons. Firstly, the adoption of the new version of the law “On the Constitutional Court” was delayed for almost a year. Secondly, among the Constitutional Court there is a fierce confrontation between supporters of the pre-Maidan system of work and the post-revolutionary one.
“Today we have 13 judges out of 18. 5 vacant positions. The Constitutional Court operates only in plenary sessions. To make any decision, 10 judges are needed. Today in court there is an epoch-making struggle between judges who were appointed before the Revolution of Dignity, and who, unfortunately, carried out political orders (there is a corresponding case in the Prosecutor General’s Office); and that part of the judges - there are 5 of them who were appointed after the revolution. They have a backbone and can resist the political interests that the Constitutional Court always has under any government. Thus, no one has a majority,” the Kiev publication “Left Bank” quotes the expert.
At the same time, she noted that by the end of the year 5 more judges should be appointed: one judge by the Congress of Judges, and two each by the parliament and the president.
“The final decisions in the Constitutional Court will depend on who these judges are. Or we will get a majority that will stamp, as before, custom-made political decisions, or a majority that will be able to say “no” to the authorities,” noted the expert on constitutional law.
She also noted that today there are signs that the parliament is trying to fail the competition for the Constitutional Court, according to the results of which the President and the Verkhovna Rada must elect their candidates to the Verkhovna Rada.
“The President and Parliament must choose from the best who have passed through the competition. They are obliged to meet the requirements that experts laid down in the Constitution (when amending it - ed.), precisely guided by the negative experience that existed before 2014. Candidates must have high moral qualities and be a lawyer of a high level of competence... Have you heard about the competition in the Constitutional Court? And he goes. And even the deadline for submitting documents has expired,” Kirichenko concluded.
At the same time, she noted that at the moment, high-profile laws are awaiting the conclusion of the Constitutional Court - on the all-Ukrainian referendum (adopted under Viktor Yanukovych), which has been in the Constitutional Court for three years, the lustration law, the language law, etc.
Freeloaders: Ukraine's Constitutional Court hasn't made a single decision in a year.