Visit of the delegation of the federal constitutional court of Germany to Ukraine
“The Constitutional Court of Ukraine gives no grounds for another situation like the one that developed last year around it. We can state that neither the Court nor the government have any claims to each other. The only body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine today is working efficiently and extremely intensively”, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Andrii Stryzhak made a statement to this effect on September 24 during the meeting with the delegation of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany headed by the President of Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Hans-Jürgen Papier.
А. Stryzhak told the guests about activities of the Court during the recent period. He quoted the following figures – since the beginning of this year, the Court has adopted about 20 decisions and opinions; 70 out of nearly 100 constitutional petitions filed with the Court have been considered. Numerous rulings to admit or refuse to initiate constitutional proceedings were adopted. These are high figures that demonstrate that judges and all structural units of the Court have significant potential. However, A. Stryzhak added that despite the achieved success there still existed certain problems. One of these problems, which is nearly the largest, is legislative support for the Court’s activities. The Law “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine” that was adopted 10 years ago is far from the ideal and requires modernisation. There is a need to adopt a law on constitutional proceedings.
President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Hans-Jürgen Papier said he was pleased that a German-Ukrainian dialogue in the sphere of constitutional justice that started at the dawn of Ukraine’s independence continues and becomes more active. He expressed his sincere gratitude to A. Stryzhak for his invitation to visit Kyiv. Exchanges of delegations to study best practices of constitutional justice become a good tradition – Ukrainian colleagues visited Karlsruhe a year ago.
H.-J. Papier said that they were aware of the problems that had become an obstacle for efficient work of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine last year but they also knew that the Court had overcome them and now has good prospects for the future.
The Federal Constitutional Court President characterised the role played by the Federal Constitutional Court in the life of Germany and emphasised that public respect for the Court is high. This is quite explainable – German citizens actively appeal to the Court because they can be sure that it will help them protect their constitutional rights and freedoms. The constitutional complaint mechanism, as H.-J. Papier stressed, became a vivid embodiment of a rule-of-law state for German citizens.
President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Hans-Jürgen Papier signed the Book of Honourary Guests of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chairs of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Vasyl Bryntsev and Anatolii Holovin, Head of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Secretariat Volodymyr Dubrovskyi, Head of German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation Offices in Kyiv and Minsk Stefan Hülshörster. The latter international organisation, as it was repeatedly mentioned during the meeting, makes a great contribution to cooperation between our states in the sphere of constitutional justice.
Today, September 25, there was held a round table on “Constitutional Complaint” attended by judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and their German colleagues. In his opening remarks, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Andrii Stryzhak draw attention of the round table participants to the fact that Ukrainian society is currently discussing the need to introduce the constitutional complaint mechanism. This idea has many supporters but many opponents as well. “The German experience in this sphere is very important for us”, A. Stryzhak said.
Every year, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany examines over 6,000 constitutional complaints, the Court’s President said. As a rule, citizens submit complaints when they believe that their constitutional rights and freedoms were infringed. “Consideration of cases initiated upon constitutional complaints became the most common type of constitutional proceedings”, H.-J. Papier said.
The constitutional complaint mechanism was introduced in Germany in 1951 and it is virtually a peer of the Federal Constitutional Court.
H.-J. Papier and his colleagues discussed in detail the procedure for accepting complaints for consideration, specific characteristics of constitutional proceedings upon them, the procedure for adoption of resolutions and decisions, quoted examples of cases that were considered, namely the practice of online-searches which violated the German Fundamental Law. The guests gave comprehensive answers to numerous questions from their Ukrainian colleagues.
During communication with German colleagues, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine A. Stryzhak expressed a suggestion to exchange experience not only at the level of judges but also at the level of their research consultants. H.-J. Papier and his colleagues supported his suggestion with enthusiasm.
The visit of representatives of German Federal Constitutional Court to Kyiv became a significant event in the history of a longstanding cooperation between the Constitutional Courts of two states. This cooperation acquires new dimensions and facilitates further development of constitutional justice in both countries.
