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A round table on social security was held at the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
On February 28, 2017 a round table with experts of the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe “The European standards on guarantees of social and economic rights by Governments” was held at the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
The event was attended by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin, judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Serhii Vdovichenko, Mykhailo Zaporozhets, Oleksandr Kasminin, Viktor Kryvenko, Oleksandr Lytvynov, Volodymyr Moisyk, Serhii Sas, Stanislav Shevchuk, Oleksandr Tupytskyi, Special Advisor of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Ukraine Régis Brillat, President of the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe Giuseppe Palmisano, Deputy Executive Secretary of the European Committee of Social Rights Henrik Kristensen, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Olena Lytvynenko, Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Vasylkevych, Deputies Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, staff of the structural divisions, including the Directorates of legal expertise, comparative studies and legal positions as a well as research consultants and assistants of judges of the Court.
The participants of the round table discussed topical issues concerning the realisation of social rights of citizens in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, European countries, and issues directly related to the activity of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, as nowadays the Court is considering cases on citizens' social security.
Addressing the participants of the event, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin drew attention to the fact that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is considering cases concerning the constitutionality of legislative amendments of the pension system, and the cancellation or restriction of benefits, compensation and guarantees for certain categories of citizens, including those which suspended the right for recalculation of pension, the right for recalculation of pensions for working pensioners, increased the privileged retirement age for women by 5 years etc.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine stressed that the Constitution of Ukraine defines the criteria that should be applied in the legislative regulation of relations concerning the social security of citizens, namely Article 22.3 which provides that the content and scope of existing rights and freedoms shall not be diminished in the adoption of new laws or in the amendment of laws that are in force. He also noted that in the constitutions of other countries there is no such provision. Realizing the difficult social and economic situation in Ukraine, the state sometimes has to reduce the size of social payments, change their arrangements; however, the provision of this article makes any legislative changes to the mechanism of social and economic rights impossible. As for today, limitation of the citizens' rights to social security, taking into account the provision of Article 22.3 of the Constitution of Ukraine (no assumption of narrowing of the content and scope of the existing rights and freedoms) remains a key issue.
In 2006 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ratified one of the main documents of the Council of Europe in the sphere of human rights – European Social Charter (amended). Ukraine joined 63 Items and 11 articles of the Charter. However, as Yurii Baulin noted there were not ratified some points concerning, in particular, the right to fair working conditions, social security, social and medical assistance etc.
Special Advisor of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for Ukraine Régis Brillat during his speech stressed on the importance of the European Social Charter, which protects and establishes certain social and economic rights of citizens of countries that have joined it.
President of the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe Giuseppe Palmisano expressed gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this event and shared his thoughts. He stressed that the Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe is engaged in the issues that are now being discussed. He elaborated on the role of the European Social Charter and the European Committee of Social Rights of the Council of Europe.
Summing up, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yurii Baulin thanked experts for the opportunity to discuss topical issues and informed that from January 1, 2017 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine chairs the Association of Constitutional Justice of the Countries of the Baltic and Black Sea Regions and the Second Congress of Association “The role of constitutional courts in developing the provisions of national constitutions in the context of the generally recognised principles and norms of international law and EU law, judgments of international courts” is to be held in May this year in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
