Constitutional Court cancels norms in the State Budget which had suspended concessions

Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has quashed the norms of the Law on the State Budget which suspended for 2007 the payment of concessions, compensation and guarantees for the population.  A constitutional submission by 48 National Deputies had asked the Court to consider whether a range of Articles of the Law complied with the Constitution.

In its judgment issued on 9 July, the Court concluded that a number of these Articles ran counter to Article 1 of the Constitution which states that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, law-based state.

The President of the Court Andriy Stryzhak, in reporting the judgment, stressed that according to the Constitution, social rights and guarantees may not be limited and that the State Budget cannot revoke provisions from other laws. The Court had therefore decided that the Verkhovna Rada had not had the authority to stop the force of other laws, including those regarding concessions, guarantees and compensation, when passing the law on the State Budget.

The above-mentioned Articles begun null and void on the day that the Court’s judgment is published.

From information at www.unian.net