Meeting of the Chairman and Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with the delegation of the House of Representatives
of the Japanese Parliament
On September 23, 2019 the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleksandr Tupitskyi and the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleh Pervomaiskyi and Serhii Sas held a meeting with the delegation of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament (Diet), led by the Chairman of the Commission on the Constitution, Chairman of Japan-Ukraine Parliamentary League of Friendship, Eisuke Mori.
The meeting was attended by Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Vasylkevych, Deputy Chairman of the Commission on the Constitution Ikuo Yamahana, Senior Director of the Commission on the Constitution Yoshitaka Shindo, Directors of the Commission on the Constitution Kazuo Kitagawa, Akinoru Eto and Soichiro Okuno, Commissioner General of the Legislative Bureau Yukinobu Tachibana, Deputy Director General of the Office of the Commission on the Constitution Ichiro Kozaki, Secretary of the Office of the Commission on the Constitution Junko Suenaga, Secretary of the Legislative Bureau Yasuhiro Ishibiki, Researcher of the Constitution Division, Research and Legislative Reference Bureau of the National Diet Library Atsuhiko Ida, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Takashi Kurai, representatives of the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine and the Japanese media.
T
he parties welcomed each other and thanked for the opportunity to hold a meeting. The guests were interested in the introduction of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine and the role of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in this process, the mechanism of the referendum in Ukraine, the legislative framework and the procedure for introducing martial law and state of emergency, including the practice of declaring a state of emergency in Ukraine in November-December 2018.
Responding to the questions, the Chairman and judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine stated that the Constitution of Ukraine, adopted in 1996, had undergone some changes during its existence. At present, the process of introducing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine is quite active. According to Oleh Pervomaiskyi, for the last month only seven constitutional appeals have been lodged to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on providing opinions on the conformity of draft laws with Articles 157, 158 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
At the request of the guests, the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine described in detail the procedure for introducing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine. “The procedure for introducing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine is more complicated and lengthy than that for adopting ordinary laws. This procedure is aimed at ensuring the stability of the Basic Law”, said Serhii Sas.
Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine also noted that the procedure for introducing amendments to different chapters of the Constitution of Ukraine is not the same. Yet, amendments to Chapters I “General principles”, III “Elections. Referendum”, XIII “Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine” provide for approval of the decision of the parliament by an All-Ukrainian referendum.
When asked about the referendum mechanism, the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine emphasised that in 2018 the Constitutional Court of Ukraine declared the Law of Ukraine “On All-Ukrainian Referendum” unconstitutional both because of the violation of the procedure of its consideration and adoption, and in view of its content. At present, there is no law regulating a referendum in Ukraine.
In the course of the conversation, the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine dwelt upon the issue of the constitutional reform of 2016, during which amendments were introduced to the Constitution of Ukraine regarding justice. These amendments directly related to the activity of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. One of the most important achievements of the constitutional reform, according to the Chairman of the Court, was the introduction of constitutional complaint.
Discussing the issues of guarantees for the activity of judges, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine stressed that the independence and integrity of judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine are guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. Any influence on a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is forbidden.
Chairman of the Commission on the Constitution, Chairman of Japan-Ukraine Parliamentary League of Friendship Eisuke Mori thanked the Chairman and the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine for their thorough answers to questions of interest to the Japanese delegation and warm reception.
During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed other topical issues of constitutional justice and expressed their hope for further fruitful cooperation.
