Constitution of Ukraine
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| Constitution of Ukraine | |
 Verkhovna Rada deputes signing Ukraine's current constitution on June 28, 1996.
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| Ratified | June 28, 1996 |
| Signers | Verkhovna Rada deputes |
| Ukraine |
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The Constitution of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Конституція України) is the supreme law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada of the second convocation on June 28, 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.
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[edit] History
Until June 8, 1995, Ukraine's supreme law was the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Ukrainian SSR (adopted in 1978, with numerous later amendments). On June 8, 1995, President Leonid Kuchma and Speaker Oleksandr Moroz (acting on behalf of the parliament) signed the Constitutional Agreement for the period until a new constitution could be drafted.
The present constitution was adopted at a dramatic overnight parliamentary session of June 27-June 28, 1996, semi-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, the current 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 local time.
[edit] Structure
The Constitution is divided into 15 chapters:
- General Principles
- Human and Citizens' Rights, Freedoms and Duties
- Elections. Referendums
- Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
- President of Ukraine
- Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Other Bodies of Executive Power
- Prokuratura
- Justice
- Territorial Structure of Ukraine
- Autonomous Republic of Crimea
- Local Self-Government
- Constitutional Court of Ukraine
- Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine
- Final Provisions
- Transitional Provisions
[edit] 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. It was signed almost immediately in the parliamentary chamber by the outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and promulgated on the same day.
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.
Some political parties said that Law No. 2222-IV was passed with the severe procedural infractions. They want to complain to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. If this law is canceled by the Court then the Constitution will return to its previous version.
As of April 2009 every second Ukrainian supports the idea of introducing amendments into the Constitution.[1] In case if amendments are introduced into the Ukrainian Constitution, some 26.8% of respondents to a poll by the Ukrainian Democratic Circle (on the order of the Institute of Politics) support a presidential-parliamentary regime, some 21.4% - presidential, some 19.8% - parliamentary-presidential, and some 12.9% - parliamentary.[1]
[edit] See also
- Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk, a 1710 constitutional document written by Hetman Pylyp Orlyk.
- Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic
[edit] References
- ^ a b Every second Ukrainian supports (new) amendments to Constitution – poll, UNIAN (April 7, 2009)
[edit] External links
- Official text of Constitution — site of the parliament (Ukrainian)
- "Constitution of Ukraine (with 2004 amendments)" (PDF). UNHCR. 2004-12-08. http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDLEGAL/44a280124.pdf.
- English translation of Constitution of 1996 — without changes from 2004
- Amendments (Law No. 2222-IV) — site of the parliament (Ukrainian)
- Constitution of 1978 — site of the parliament (Ukrainian)
- Constitutional Agreement of 1995 — site of the parliament (Ukrainian)
- Declaration on the State Sovereignty of July 16, 1990 — site of the parliament (Ukrainian)
- Independence Act of August 24, 1991 — site of the parliament (Ukrainian)
- Note: The English publication of Ukraine's constitution on the Official Rada and President's web sites are outdated. For a copy of the current version (dated 25 May 2006) see the collection of documents on the Venice Commission's web site copy also available on Wikisource.
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