The Constitutional Court of Ukraine recognized that the bill On Introducing Amendments to the Fundamental Law (No. 4105), approved by the parliament on December 24, 2003, complies with Articles 157 and 158 of the Constitution of Ukraine. Thirteen judges supported this decision with four voting against. Recall that this draft envisages the repartition of powers between the parliament and president, strengthening the executive branch of power, forming the government by a coalition of parliamentary factions, extending the term of the parliament’s authorities to five years, and introducing an imperative mandate. As is known, on February 3 the parliament introduced a number of changes to the draft, excluding the provisions on electing the president by the parliament and limiting the term for electing judges.
The Constitutional Court’s decision states that Verkhovna Rada considered a number of its criticisms of November 5. At the same time, the text of the draft bill contains a number of inconsistencies. Judge Oleksandr Myronenko who delivered the report stressed that the Constitutional Court cannot make a decision as to whether the amendments to the Constitution are appropriate even if they contradict the Fundamental Law in some way. The judge forecasted a growing load on the Constitutional Court caused by the need to interpret a large number of provisions, which will arise, in his opinion, with introducing amendments to the Constitution. Judge Myronenko believes that, though the reform’s main goal is forming the parliamentary-presidential republic, in general a parliament remains unprotected, since the president preserves the opportunity to dissolve it. The judge also criticized the provision on the imperative mandate, explaining that “a deputy thus becomes in fact a dumb button- pusher.”
Judge Myronenko did not rule out that the Constitutional Court would have to consider the draft bill On Introducing Amendments to the Fundamental Law more than once. The deputies will have to turn to the Constitutional Court for a conclusion every time they eliminate defects in tbill No. 4105.
Meanwhile, Verkhovna Rada expects the Constitutional Court’s decision to arrive to the Constitutional Committee. To expedite the political reform, it was decided to introduce session regime for this week, dedicating three days to voting. In the words of the president’s permanent representative in Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Zadorozhny, people’s deputies are “technically prepared” to vote for the bill On Proportional Elections, which is “a prerequisite for the final approval of the law On Introducing Amendments to the Fundamental Law.” Leader of the SDPU(o) faction in the parliament Leonid Kravchuk believes that the law On Introducing Amendments to the Fundamental Law can be approved this week or next “but definitely before April.”
