SOME THOUGHTS ON COMPLIANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTION OF UKRAINE

“When our kings are in conflict with our constitution, we change our kings.” These words belong to the prominent British politician and statesman of the twentieth century Winston Churchill (1874-1965), who was the Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940-1945 and 1951-1955.

Based on these words, we can immediately conclude what is more important for the leadership of this state.

What about the situation in Ukraine? And what is the attitude of the Ukrainian authorities to the Basic Law of the state?

Here is just one example.

At its plenary session on 17 July 2024, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted in the second reading and as a whole the Law of Ukraine ‘On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Simplifying the Conditions for Conducting Economic Activity during the Period of Martial Law (State of Emergency) in Ukraine’ (registration No. 7331 of 29 April 2022, the subject of the right of legislative initiative is the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine), which is to enter into force after it is signed by the President of Ukraine.

It seems that the proposal of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is not bad, even good – simplification of the conditions for conducting business during martial law. But… Absolutely not addressing the question of the expediency or inexpediency of this government initiative and the specific provisions of this Law, the Association considers it necessary to note the following.

Thus, the Main Legal Department of the Parliamentary Administration of Ukraine:
1) after examining the draft law prepared for the second reading under registration No. 7331 dated 29 April 2022, in its comments noted that ‘the draft law contains provisions that do not comply with the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, as well as do not take into account the legal position of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine’, and finally stated that ‘given the conceptual faults of the draft law, in particular, the fact that the draft law does not take into account the constitutional norms on conducting business activities within the limits not prohibited by law, is not aimed at establishing guarantees of protection of property and business entities and does not contain complete mechanisms and methods of regulating the issue of possible simplification of the conditions for conducting business activities during martial law or a state of emergency, the draft law in this version should be rejected‘;

2) after conducting a repeated legal examination of the draft law prepared for the second reading, it noted that ‘the draft law, like its previous version, raises concerns about non-compliance with the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, in particular, in terms of the inadmissibility of delegation by the Parliament of its constitutional power to determine the legal framework and guarantees of entrepreneurship to another public authority exclusively by law’.

Despite the fact that the Main Legal Department of the Parliamentary Secretariat of Ukraine in its remarks twice drew attention to the non-compliance of the draft law No. 7331 of 29 April 2022 with the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine put the draft law to a vote.

What do we have in the end?

1.Despite the fact that the Main Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in its remarks twice drew attention to the non-compliance of the draft law No. 7331 of 29 April 2022 with the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine put the draft law to a vote.

Question 1. Can the society trust the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine, who, knowing that the draft law does not meet the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, puts it to a vote and still votes for its adoption?

2. During the voting on 17 July 2024 on the draft law No. 7331 of 29 April 2022, 237 MPs voted for its adoption (Servant of the People – 173, Trust – 16, European Solidarity – 13, Restoring Ukraine – 13, Voice – 10, For the Future – 8, non-factional – 4), 15 deputies voted against (all from Batkivshchyna), 5 abstained, and 63 MPs did not vote. Question 2. Can society trust such MPs if they took an oath in front of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine based on Article 79 of the Constitution of Ukraine, in which they swore to ‘abide by the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine, to perform their duties in the interests of all compatriots’, and then, knowing that the draft law did not meet the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, voted for its adoption?

3. The Main Legal Department of the Secretariat of the Parliament of Ukraine has its own approved staffing table and corresponding payroll.

Question 3. Why do we need such a unit in the Secretariat of the Parliament of Ukraine if no one listens to its comments and conclusions on draft laws and does not respond to them?

Of course, all these questions are rhetorical.

And this is just one example.

Afterwards, everyone talks about imperfections and gaps in Ukrainian legislation, problems of its effectiveness, non-compliance with the rule of law, unregulated legal relations, various corruption factors in the current legislation…

P.S. As of 19 August 2024, the Law of Ukraine ‘On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Simplification of Conditions for Conducting Economic Activity during the Period of Martial Law (State of Emergency) in Ukraine’ (registration No. 7331 of 29 April 2022) has only been approved by the main committee (Committee on Economic Development) and has not yet been signed by the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine.

And one month has already passed since its adoption.