Volodymyr SHAPOVAL: Today It is Impossible to Change the Constitution without the Parliament

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The Basic Law had to be created for ever and a day. Ukraine manages in a few years “to play” the constitutional dramatic effect which other countries passed for ages. Problems, which appear in the mutual relations between leading politicians (sometimes these are simply personal misunderstandings), for some reason are tried to be solved by refashioning of the Constitution. Consequently the Basic Law turns into the mean of embodiment of voluntarism. Constitutional models are interpreted as a fashionable cut: it is liked or disliked; it fits or does not fit. Lack of sense of justice and political responsibility is compensated by spirituality and entrepreneurial spirit. Our talk with doctor of legal sciences Volodymyr SHAPOVALOV, professor, member-correspondent of the NAN of Ukraine, Head of the Central Election Committee is about the operating Constitution and possible changes to the Basic Law.

– Referendum is called to be a possible method of adoption of new Constitution. However you mentioned year 2000 when the results of referendum were not realized. Therefore the question rises about the plenary powers of the Verkhovna Rada to interpret the will of people.

The referendum in relation to direct adoption of new Constitution presently is practically impossible. I’ll repeat: today there is no legal method for acceptance of new Constitution or new release of the Constitution without the parliament. There is only one method provided by the thirteenth section of the operating Constitution.

– Can new Constitution be adopted in the Parliament, taking into account the present situation in the Verkhovna Rada?

– We should expect that in the nearest future enough constitutional initiatives will appear. But these will be, as they say, “game pieces”. As far as one should go to the elections, they say, with a “game piece”. At the same time in terms of today's situation there is no purpose to hope that the constitutional project initiated by the President, or any other, has chances to be adopted in the Verkhovna Rada.