30.06.2026
On 24 June 2026, at a plenary session, the Second Senate of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine deliberated the case upon a constitutional complaint of Viktor Prykhodko regarding the constitutionality of paragraph 131.1 of Section XV “Final Provisions” of Law of Ukraine “On Mandatory State Pension Insurance” No. 1058-IV dated 9 July 2003 (hereinafter, “Law No. 1058”) as amended by Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Increase in Pensions” No. 2148–VIII dated 3 October 2017 (hereinafter, “Law No. 2148”) and delivered Decision No. 5-r(II)/2026.
The Judge-Rapporteur in the case was Oleg Pervomayskiy.
In accordance with paragraph 131.1 of Section XV “Final Provisions” of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148 (hereinafter the “contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148”), it is stipulated that “from 1 October 2017, pensions granted after the entry into force of the Law of Ukraine “On Measures for the Legislative Support of Pension System Reform” (except for persons with disabilities of Groups I and II, persons with war-related disabilities of Group III and combatants, and persons covered by Article 10.1 of the Law of Ukraine “On Status of War Veterans, Guarantees of Their Social Protection”) under the terms of the Laws of Ukraine “On the Public Service”, “On the Public Prosecutor’s Office”, “On Status of People's Deputy of Ukraine” and “On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activities” during the period of service in public service posts as defined by the Law of Ukraine “On the Civil Service” No. 889–VIII dated 10 December 2015, as well as in posts and under the conditions provided for by the Laws of Ukraine “On the Public Prosecutor’s Office” and “On the Judiciary and the Status of Judges”, shall be paid in an amount calculated in accordance with this Law”.
In the opinion of Viktor Prykhodko, as a result of the application of the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, the amount of his pension has been significantly reduced, which constitutes a violation of a number of articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, in particular Article 22, 24.1, 24.2.
In resolving the issue of the constitutionality of the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, the Court proceeds on the following basis.
Participants in social relations, in addition to the right to know their rights and obligations – which must be guaranteed, in particular, in the manner specified in Article 57.2 of the Constitution of Ukraine – are also entitled to expect that only those laws and other regulatory acts adopted by a competent authority will be applicable to the regulation of social relations, and that these acts are in force at the time of their application and have been officially published or otherwise made public prior to their application.
To ensure the effectiveness of the guarantee that laws and other regulatory acts which have not been “brought to the attention of the public in the manner prescribed by law” shall not be applied to regulate social relations, Article 57.3 of the Constitution of Ukraine emphasises the invalidity of such acts.
On 3 October 2017, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law No. 2148.
Law No. 2148 was published in the newspaper “Holos Ukrainy” on 10 October 2017. It came into force on 11 October 2017 – the day following its publication.
At the same time, according to the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, it is applicable to the regulation of the relevant segment of social relations from 1 October 2017, that is, prior to the date of its publication.
Analysing the specific provision in paragraph 131.1 of Section XV “Final Provisions” of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, namely “from 1 October 2017”, the Court found that it was precisely on the basis of this provision that the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, was applied retroactively to regulate social relations concerning pension provision.
As a result of the retroactive effect of the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, the individual was deprived of the right to receive timely information about changes in the legislative regulation of pension provision. However, in the event of changes to the legislative regulation of these relations, which may result in a reduction in the amount of pension payments to which the individual is entitled, the general rule set out in Article 58.1 of the Constitution of Ukraine applies to such changes, according to which laws and other normative acts do not have retroactive effect.
The retroactive application of the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, from 1 October 2017, despite the fact that Law No. 2148 was adopted on 3 October 2017 and published on 10 October 2017, constitutes a substantial and indisputable violation of the constitutional principles of good governance and the rule of law, as well as a number of constitutional guarantees for the exercise of rights set out in Articles 57.1, 58.1, 94.5 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine has concluded that the specific provision of paragraph 131.1 of Section XV “Final Provisions” of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, namely “from 1 October 2017”, is inconsistent with Articles 3.2, 8.1, 46.1, 57, 58.1 and 94.5 of the Constitution of Ukraine, therefore, the contested provision of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, cannot be applied to regulate social relations prior to the day following the date of publication of Law No. 2148.
In view of the abovementioned, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared the specific provision of paragraph 131.1 of Section XV “Final Provisions" of Law No. 1058, as amended by Law No. 2148, namely “from 1 October 2017”, as unconstitutional.
