The Court proceeded to an in-camera part of the plenary session in the case concerning the constitutionality of the appointment of members of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities
On May 18, at the public part of the plenary session in the form of written proceedings the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine considered the case upon the constitutional petition of 50 People’s Deputies of Ukraine concerning the compliance with the Constitution of paragraphs 3, 4 of Section II "Final and Transitional Provisions" of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Ensuring Constitutional Principles in the Spheres of Energy and Communal Services" of December 19, 2019 No. 394–IX (hereinafter referred to as the Law No. 394), and some decrees of the President of Ukraine.
During the plenary session, Judge-Rapporteur in the case, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Vasyl Lemak outlined the content of the constitutional petition and the grounds for initiating constitutional proceedings in the case.
The Judge-Rapporteur noted that the petitioners challenge paragraph 3 of Section II "Final and Transitional Provisions" of the Law No. 394, which stipulates that a person who is a member of the Regulator on the date of entry into force of this Law shall continue to exercise the powers of the Regulator during the period, which constitutes the difference between six years and the term of office until the date of entry into force of the Law No. 394, subject to paragraph 4 of this section.
According to paragraph 4 of Section II "Final and Transitional Provisions" of the Law No. 394, the rotation of members of the Regulator, who are in office as of the date of entry into force of the Law No. 394, applies to: one member of the Regulator - until July 1, 2020; one member of the Regulator - until July 1, 2021; one member of the Regulator - until July 1, 2023; two members of the Regulator - until July 1, 2024; two members of the Regulator - until July 1, 2025; the rotation scheme of the Regulator's members with a list of names is approved by the President of Ukraine.
The petitioners also challenge a number of decrees of the President of Ukraine appointing O. Antonova, D. Kovalenko, O. Kryvenko, R. Kaidash, O. Babii, V. Tarasiuk, O.Magda as members of the National Commission for State Regulation of Energy and Utilities.
The subjects of the right to constitutional petition consider that the disputed provisions of the Law No. 394 and decrees of the President of Ukraine are such that do not meet the requirements of Article 5.4, Article 6, Article 8.2, Article 19.2, Article 102, Article 106.1 and Article 106.3 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
According to them, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine expanded the powers of the President of Ukraine, interfered in the discretionary powers of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, defined by the Constitution of Ukraine, and, therefore, went beyond its competence. The petitioners also considered that the President of Ukraine, having appointed the members of the Regulator by the impugned decrees, had acted beyond his powers as defined by the Constitution of Ukraine.
During the plenary session, the Judge-Rapporteur informed that in order to ensure full and objective consideration of the case and the adoption of a reasoned decision by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, inquiries were sent to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Prime Minister of Ukraine and a number of higher education establishments, research institutions on issues raised in the constitutional petition.
After examining the case file at the public part of the plenary session, the Court proceeded to the in-camera part for a decision.
The plenary session of the Grand Chamber of the Court was attended by the Authorised Representative of the subject of the right to constitutional petition - People's Deputy of Ukraine Oleksii Kucherenko.
The public part of the plenary session is available at the following link: archive of video broadcasts of the meetings.
