The Verkhovna Rada wishes to tie the hands of the Constitutional Court

The Verkhovna Rada has finally today set to electing its quota of Constitutional Court judges which it has effectively blocked since October last year, when the tenure of many of the previous judges came to an end.

The Verkhovna Rada also passed draft Law No. 1253 which prohibits the Constitutional Court from reviewing the last amendments made to the Constitution of Ukraine.  The absurdity of this law is transparent since the Constitutional Court functions using the Constitution of Ukraine.  The Constitution has the highest legal force in the country and cannot be changed by a law*.  The draft law was tabled by the Socialists.

The Verkhovna Rada has with this yet again shown its professional incompetence and legal illiteracy, as well as its lack of respect for the judiciary, as represented by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The parliamentarians furthermore introduced amendments to the law on the Constitutional Court, having cancelled the one-month time period for swearing in Constitutional Court judges, thus legislatively consolidating the whim of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to postpone at its own discretion this vital procedure. This will effectively enable constant blocking by parliament of the work of the Constitutional Court through delaying the swearing in of judges.

*  “The Constitution of Ukraine has the highest legal force. Laws and other normative legal acts are adopted on the basis of the Constitution of Ukraine and shall conform to it. The norms of the Constitution of Ukraine are norms of direct effect. Appeals to the court in defence of the constitutional rights and freedoms of the individual and citizen directly on the grounds of the Constitution of Ukraine are guaranteed.” (Article 8 § 2, 3 of the Constitution)