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Political System

On August 24, 1991, Ukraine proclaimed its independence and during the referendum held on December 1 of the same year, the Ukrainian people confirmed their choice of independent development by saying "yes" to it. Leonid Kravchuk was elected the first president of a newly independent Ukraine.

Ukraine faced a multitude of very difficult tasks which had to be solved within a short period of time: a new political system had to be built; new statehood principles based on law had to be introduced; a new system of national security and defense had to be created.
In 1996 the new Constitution was adopted.

General foundations of the political system

General foundations of the political system of Ukraine are defined by its Constitution. In accordance with its organic law, Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social and jural state.

Democratic essence of the Ukrainian state is enshrined by the constitutional provisions concerning its form of government - a republic, governed by sovereignty of the people. State power is divided into legislative, executive and judicial branches, acting within their competence. The Constitution envisages the principle of political, economic and ideological diversity of social life.

The social character of Ukrainian state results in constitutional regulation of issues related to the use of property and protection of all subjects of property right, social orientation of the economy, equality of all subjects of property right before the law, and the maintenance of ecologic safety and balance within Ukraine's territory and other socially important measures.

Jural essence of the state is supported by provisions related to supremacy of law and direct action of constitutional norms. The state is responsible to the people for its activities. According to the Constitution, the main task of the state is to establish and promote human rights and freedoms.

Ukraine is a unitary state, in which its territory is integral and inviolable. The state has a single citizenship. The state language of Ukraine is Ukrainian.

State power institutions in Ukraine

The President of Ukraine

The Constitution of Ukraine designates the President as the Head of State, acting on its behalf. The President is a guarantor of national sovereignty, territorial integrity, adherence to the Constitution, human and civil rights and freedoms. The President is elected by the citizens of the state on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through a secret vote. The term of presidential office is five years. Only a citizen of Ukraine, who was residing in Ukraine for ten years before the elections, has voting rights and speaks state language, may be elected President. President may hold his/her post no longer than two consecutive terms. More detailed...

The Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine

The only legislative body of Ukraine is the Parliament - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. People's deputies of Ukraine are elected by the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of equal and direct universal suffrage through secret vote. The election system is mixed - majority and proportional.

Altogether 450 deputies are elected. 225 of them are elected at single-mandate constituencies on the basis of relative majority, and another 225 are elected proportionally at multi-mandate national constituency from the lists of candidates coming from political parties and their election blocks.

The powers of people's deputies of Ukraine are established by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. People's deputies of Ukraine may voluntarily unite themselves into deputies' groups called factions with no less than 25 members. Deputies' groups are formed both on a party and a non-party basis. Deputies' groups formed on party basis are called 'factions'. Non-party deputies may join a faction if they support the program of relevant party. Deputies' groups formed on a non-party basis unite deputies who share the same or similar views of national, social and economic development. More detailed...

The Government of Ukraine

The Cabinet of Ministers (Government) of Ukraine is the supreme executive authority. Its actions are based on the Constitution, laws of Ukraine and presidential orders. The Government is responsible to the President and is controlled by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, to which it also must report. In practice, this dependency results in presidential appointment of a Prime Minister (with parliamentary consent). The President may also suspend Prime Minister's authorities and discharge him/her. Upon Prime Minister's submission, the President appoints and discharges the members of Cabinet of Ministers and other heads of central executive authorities.

Parliamentary control of the Government and its reporting to the Verkhovna Rada results is parliamentary approval of government-submitted annual budget, parliamentary resolutions on fulfillment of budgetary provisions, approval or rejection of governmental program and control of government's work. More detailed...

The System of Judicial Authority

Legal proceedings are carried out by the Constitutional Court and courts of general jurisdiction. The supreme authority of the system of courts of general jurisdiction is the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Legal proceedings may be carried out only by courts. Courts' jurisdiction covers all legal relationships in the state. The system of courts of general jurisdiction is based on the principles of territorial and special jurisdiction.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is a separate entity and is independent from the courts of general jurisdiction. It cannot be used as a cassation, appeal or supervisory authority for the courts of general jurisdiction. The activities of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine promote constitutional control in all spheres, stabilization and strengthening of constitutional order, the establishment of principle of primacy of law and the supreme legal force of the Constitution, and the promotion of constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens. More detailed...

Ukraine’s constitutional reform of 2004. Brief legal overview.

1996: The first Constitution of Independent Ukraine

From 1991 to 1996, renowned international and Ukrainian legal experts worked scrupulously on the draft of a new Constitution for Ukraine, the final version of which was adopted by the Parliament of Ukraine on June 28, 2006.

This historic event marked the beginning of the stabilization of the country’s political and economic life. According to the 1996 Constitution, Ukraine was declared a presidential republic. The system of the separation of powers, set forth in the Constitution, granted strong executive powers to the President and unhindered legislative power to the Parliament.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) praised Ukraine’s new Constitution, emphasizing that it established an effective system of checks and balances and made impossible the return to authoritarianism.

2004: Political Crisis. Amendments to the Constitution (Law No 2222)

In December 2004, the Parliament of Ukraine, faced with a deep political crisis, caused by the presidential elections, adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Introduction of Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine” No 2222. As a result of these changes, Ukraine was transformed into a parliamentary-presidential republic, with the Parliament of Ukraine receiving much wider authorities.

In contrast with the lengthy and painstaking process of the drafting of the 1996 Constitution, the amendments introduced in 2004 look more like a political compromise than a properly done legal procedure.

The main breach of the amendments to the Constitution claimed by its opponents at that time was the ignorance the Constitutional Court, which was removed it from the mandatory procedure of legal analysis and supervision of the amendments process.

In 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, gravely concerned with the Ukraine’s departure from the democratic procedures (i.e. the removal of the Constitutional Court from the process of the amendment of the Constitution), urged the country’s political leaders to rectify the mistakes of 2004 and by doing so to ensure the legitimacy of the constitutional changes and their compliance with the European standards.

The 2004 amendments to the Constitution have been subsequently criticized by the representatives of the ruling power, by the opposition, by prominent legal experts as well as by ordinary citizens. They have demonstrated to the world at large that in Ukraine political expediency takes priority over the Parliament’s duty to follow the prescriptions of the fundamental law.

2005-2010: Outcomes of the Constitutional Amendments 2004

From 2005 onwards, from the moment when the 2004 Constitutional amendments came into force, Ukrainian politicians, political leaders and constitutional lawyers have been locked in a series of protracted legal disputes. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine was regularly barraged by countless claims concerning the inconsistency and the incongruity of the Constitutional provisions of 2004.

As a result, Ukraine’s domestic politics descended into ruinous constitutional power struggle, which continues to mar the country’s progress and reforms even today, five years after the adoption of the amendments.

Constitutional Court. Applications history.

The first attempt to annul the constitutional amendments in the Constitutional Court was undertaken in 2007 by Yulia Tymoshenko. However, since the documents necessary for the hearing have been submitted inappropriately, the Court decided not to proceed with the hearing of the application.

On July 13, 2010, a group of Ukrainian Members of Parliament filed an application to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, asking it to declare the 2004 Law of Ukraine “On Introduction of Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine” No 2222 unconstitutional.

The 252 MPs requested the Constitutional Court to either return to the original Constitution of 1996, or to facilitate the adoption of new amendments, which would be adequate to the current day realities and to the needs of the Ukrainian society.

Back to the version of 1996

On October 1, 2010 the Consitutional Court of Ukraine canceled the constitutional reform, this reestablishing the constitutional order set forth in the original Constitution of 1996.