23 April, 2025

 

On 22 April 2025, the presentation of the publication “Language Commentary to the Constitution of Ukraine and Other Regulatory Acts”, which was prepared and compiled jointly by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (hereinafter, the “Court”) and the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, took place in Kyiv.

The presentation was attended by judges of the Court, members of the Court's Secretariat, representatives Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Centre for Legal Terminology of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, representatives of the judiciary and legislature, lawyers and international experts.

The event was moderated by the Head of the Centre for Legal Terminology of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Law, Professor, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine, Serhiy Holovaty, who was the Chairperson of the Standing Commission on Legal Terminology of the Court and the main inspirer of this project.

He noted that at the time when the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine was adopted, the famous Ukrainian linguist Sviatoslav Karavanskyi expressed his opinion on the text of the Ukrainian Constitution.  He addressed his remarks neither to the authors of the Constitution nor to the drafters of its text. “The linguistic flaws that occur there are a consequence of the exsanguination of the Ukrainian language, which has been practiced in the Ukrainian SSR for the past 65 years (and he wrote in 2001), and which is being carried out in independent Ukraine by inertia.” That is why the Language Commentary to the Constitution of Ukraine and Other Regulatory Acts should ease the way for the introduction of Ukrainian legal terms into the Ukrainian legal system. “I hope that thanks to the joint efforts of all stakeholders, legal linguistics in Ukraine will be at the highest level,” said Serhiy Holovaty.

Acting Chairman of the Court Oleksandr Petryshyn delivered a welcoming speech. He noted that the movement for the Ukrainian language in law and legal texts was launched ten years ago. ‘Even then, work was started in this area and some problems were raised,’ he said. Oleksandr Petryshyn noted that under any circumstances, jurisprudence has always been very sensitive to words, language, and text, providing legal certainty. Jurisprudence has a whole section called Legal Linguistics. “The court always relies on such a construct as legal certainty, which is one of the most important principles of the rule of law and is indispensable. The Court paid considerable attention to linguistic analysis and showed certain examples of the use of the Ukrainian language in legal texts, in particular in its judgments,” said the Acting Chairman of the Court.

Oleksandr Vodiannikov, Senior Project Associate of the OSCE Support Program for Ukraine, in his welcoming remarks noted that language is not only a means of communication but also a cornerstone and fundamental aspect of the rule of law, legal certainty of a democratic state.

Recalling the statement of a French linguist who argued that "there is nothing outside the text", he stressed that this postulate is very relevant for legal science and the legal profession, because law does not exist outside the text. In his opinion, the result of this work will be crucial for the development of legal science.

In his speech, Director of the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Philology, Professor Pavlo Grytsenko thanked the judges of the Court for their nationally deep position in defending the Ukrainian language. He noted that “the Court has twice defended the linguistic national pinnacle of the concept of the national language and did not give in despite open attacks on it. It was only the principled position of the Court's judges that preserved Ukraine's Ukrainianness,” the professor stressed.

The speaker emphasized that the individual and the state are closely related to lawanguage structure, language use, daily life of the language, and the pinnacle in the development of a literary standard. He emphasized such important factors for the language of law as accuracy and unambiguity, conventional signs of legal texts that clearly define the subject, object, chronotope, circumstances important for the content of the law, and the boundaries and circumstances of the law's application. “All these features elevate legal texts to socially significant examples of the textual space of the national language. That is why we deliberately put legal texts at the top of the hierarchy of styles,” the linguist emphasized.

Continuing his speech, he also added that our language is currently in a state of restructuring. According to him, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and institutions directly related to law remain the centers of active dynamics of Ukrainian law. “The main tasks in the development of Ukrainian legal texts of the modern era were to break free from the strong Russian-language embrace, to clear the Russian-language layers in Ukrainian legal texts,” noted Pavlo Grytsenko. In conclusion, the professor noted the special contribution of all those who worked on the scientific publication and expressed confidence that this edition will be an important step in the revival of the Ukrainian center, our language, and mentality in strengthening our state. The speaker also added that similar work is being done in various fields of science and called for cooperation between the scientific and information sectors.

Iryna Savchenko, Deputy Head of the Editorial and Publishing Department of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and Kateryna Gorodenska, Head of the Grammar Group of the Grammar and Scientific Terminology Department of the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Philology, Professor, spoke about the idea, process of creation, and features of the Language Commentary.

Details:

“Language Commentary to the Constitution of Ukraine and Other Regulations” was published on March 31, 2025. It consists of two parts. The first part contains: the text of the 1996 Constitution; words and phrases recommended in accordance with the norms of the modern Ukrainian literary language; excerpts from acts of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and comments of the Institute of the Ukrainian Language of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The second part contains the texts of laws and other acts and recommendations on the use of certain words and phrases.

The scientific publication was compiled by Doctor of Law, Professor Serhiy Holovaty, representatives of the Editorial and Publishing Department of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Svitlana Sydorenko and Iryna Savchenko.

The linguistic commentaries were prepared by Doctor of Philology, Professor Kateryna Gorodenska, Candidate of Philology Larysa Kolibaba, and Candidate of Philology Valentyna Fursa. The comments are based on the current norms of the modern Ukrainian literary language. The publication was prepared with the assistance of the OSCE Support Program for Ukraine.