They compared with their strength and played kvach

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Progress

During the downtime since1997 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine has pronounced 144 judgements and given 14 conclusions. These acts are the models of direct application of the Constitutional norms to the disputable legal relationships and they confirmed once again a thesis that the Constitution is the Fundamental Law of the state. Death penalty was abolished by the judgement of 1999 year. In 2000 the guarantees of freedom of formation of trade unions were acknowledged and the monopoly of advocatory associations on the representation of the citizen’s interests in the courts was eliminated. The realization of the Constitutional norms was fulfilled by the courts of general jurisdiction too.
The judgement of the Supreme Court on business concerning the election of the President of Ukraine had the most radical influence, when, following the principle of supremacy of law confirmed by the article 8 of the Constitution, the court has canceled the results of the second round of voting.

Prospects

The full realization of the Constitution requires the passing of almost 80 laws. Only nearly 30 of them are in force now. Legislations concerning the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, concerning the guarantees to the President, concerning the President’s office, and also the laws that deal with the realization of the constitutional rights of citizens to dwelling, to the legal and medical care are waiting for being passed.

I remember very well the numerous meetings of the first working group that worked at preparation of the project of the Constitution of Ukraine. It was then led by an authoritative scientist, doctor of legal sciences Leonid Yuz’kov. And well-known then and especially now scientists and lawyers, whose pupils are progressive young lawyers now, formed a part of it. And the deputies, and those, who only dreamed about a legislative career, and those, who were not legislators or deputies, but were the guide in the legislative process because of authority and deep theoretical and practical knowledge…

And I’m sure that this process could take the risk of turning into putrefaction, if not the nation itself that practically continuously held mass-meetings, starved, required… Democracy gained the upper hand and had its influence.

Practically the same positions concerning the plenary powers of the President and the parliament remained in the next project of the Constitution, from June, 1, 1992, prepared by a working group and brought up for discussion by the Verkhovna Rada on July, 1, 1992. The polemic about the plenary powers of the President and the parliament has already involved the public too. It seemed to somebody that the President was provided with the greater power than the legislators, to the others, and to the President in particular, – vice versa. Then Leonid Kravchuk spoke to the subject in one of the interviews so: as if it is impossible to connect a presidential republic with the personage of the President. The President is a democrat now, but who will substitute him? So the question has already been about the real threat to authoritarianism. That is on the one hand. And what is on the other hand? According to the project of the Constitution too much of real and serious responsibility was taken by the President as the leader of the country and the head of executive power. And it couldn’t but frighten the President on the assumption of complete economic «tear». Is not that so?

In the photo: the project of the Constitution of Ukraine was represented on March, 20, 1996 at the special session of the Verkhovna Rada. The Chairman of the VR Oleksandr Moroz accentuated that the adoption of the Constitution by the Verkhovna Rada will be the best variant and the procedure is to be such that "no doubts could be cast upon the legitimacy of the Fundamental Law"

Svitlana Pysarenko