Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine held a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA to Ukraine
On October 10, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk held a meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine Marie Louise Yovanovitch in the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
The event was also attended by Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Serhiy Holovaty, Viktor Horodovenko and Iryna Zavhorodnia, Deputy Director of the USAID Democracy and Governance Office Ann Hopper and USAID Democracy and Governance Project Management Specialist Oleksandr Piskun.
Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Stanislav Shevchuk greeted the distinguished guests and noted that the course of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine today is aimed at openness and independence, and the authority of its decisions should strengthen confidence in the constitutional control body. “However, we are aware that the reverse side of independence is responsibility”, he stressed.
Stanislav Shevchuk noted that constitutional reform is ongoing in Ukraine, in particular, amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine in the area of justice were introduced and a new Law of Ukraine “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine” was adopted. The purpose of such changes, in his opinion, is to protect constitutional rights and freedoms, to maximise the full implementation of the rule of law and constitutional democracy.
According to the Chairman, the constitutional reform has, in particular, strengthened the guarantees of the independence of judges and increased the authority of the Court before the public. He emphasised that now the Constitutional Court’s judges are appointed on a competitive basis, provided by the new Law, and noted that today the body of constitutional control of Ukraine is operating in full composition, i.e. eighteen judges, with five of them having been selected by the competition.
The most important achievement of the constitutional reform, according to Stanislav Shevchuk, is the introduction of the constitutional complaint institute as an effective instrument for the protection of human rights and freedoms. The constitutional complaint should change the face of the legal system of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Court emphasised and mentioned the first experience of reviewing constitutional complaints.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Serhiy Holovaty emphasised that the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine coincide with those contained in the European instrument of human rights protection, which is the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Therefore, the Judge stressed, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is called to act as a kind of filter, by which it is possible to reduce the number of applications of citizens of Ukraine submitted to the European Court of Human Rights at the time of resolving human rights protection issues at the national level. “The subject matter of protection of both the Constitutional Court and the ECHR are the fundamental rights and freedoms of people”, he added.
In describing the institute of constitutional complaint in Ukraine, Judge Holovaty clarified that it was a question of protecting the rights of a person when he/she considered that the national judicial system of his/her particular right was not protected, or that the court of general jurisdiction applied the norm of the Ukrainian law concerning such a law, which, in the complainant’s opinion, is unconstitutional. “Before appealing to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, a person must go through all stages of national judicial protection”, Serhiy Holovaty noted.
In dwelling upon this problematic issue, the Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Horodovenko emphasised that the institute of the constitutional complaint makes it possible to unite the efforts of courts of general jurisdiction as well as the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. Therefore, in his opinion, this institute is extremely important both for each individual and for the judicial system as a whole and for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which ensures the supremacy of the Constitution. “The interpretation by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine of the norms of the Constitution of Ukraine defines the standards of law enforcement and for courts of general jurisdiction”, the Judge noted.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Iryna Zavhorodnia noted that the institution of the constitutional complaint positively affects every person who was able to appeal to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. “This is the quintessence of the reform that has taken place”, she highlighted. The Judge also expressed the hope that the institution of the constitutional complaint will become a pledge of effective protection of the constitutional human and citizen rights and freedoms in Ukraine.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Ukraine Marie L. Yovanovitch emphasised that she closely monitors the reforms being implemented in Ukraine. She noted that the issues raised during the meeting were extremely important and relevant.
Marie L. Yovanovitch noted that the establishment of democracy is a complicated process and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is the institution that promotes the development of democracy in Ukraine.
At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors thanked each other for constructive dialogue and discussed the ways of future cooperation.
