On Tuesday, 28 May 2024, at a special plenary session of the Court, Serhiy Riznyk took the oath of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and signed it with his personal signature.
The chair of the special plenary session, Serhiy Holovaty, handed Serhiy Riznyk a judge's robe, a badge and a card of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine as well as congratulated him on taking up his duties as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
“This is a historic moment in the history of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, since you are the first to pass a very difficult but fair competitive selection, becoming one of the winners, and subsequently the legislator appointed you to this responsible position. Your assumption of duty is to some extent symbolic: today is your first working day as the youngest judge by age, and tomorrow is my last working day as the oldest judge by age. This means that the young Ukrainian state needs a younger generation of judges who are obliged to serve the Ukrainian Constitution in order to establish the triad of European values: true, not formal, democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said Serhiy Holovaty.
He emphasised that Ukraine is part of the European space, which has recently freed itself from the totalitarian yoke of Moscow communism.
Serhiy Holovaty underscored that since 2000, the countries of Eastern and Central Europe have been showing signs of violation of democracy and the rule of law. He gave examples of how the ruling elites in different countries have tried to subjugate constitutional courts, influence them or eliminate them altogether, in particular by limiting funding, not appointing judges, and not executing court decisions. According to Serhiy Holovaty, these are just a few of the many methods applied to undermine the independence of constitutional courts so that they cannot fulfil their ultimate role as guardians and defenders of the national constitution, the rule of law and human rights.
Serhiy Holovaty highlighted that at a time when the Armed Forces of Ukraine are defending our country in the fight against the savage Leviathan, every Ukrainian, the entire Ukrainian people and the whole of Ukraine must be confident that they have a reliable guardian - a defender in the person of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, which stands guard over the constitutional order.
The special plenary session was attended by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk.
In his speech, he noted that the appointment of Serhiy Riznyk as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine was based on the results of an unprecedentedly public and extremely difficult competition. “The appointment of a new judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Serhiy Riznyk, is completely apolitical and based on a thorough analysis of his moral, ethical and professional qualities. This is confirmed by the eloquent fact that the voting for this candidate united almost the entire parliamentary hall, resulting in 286 votes on the scoreboard,” Ruslan Stefanchuk pointed out.
He is convinced that this example will be only the first step in establishing a new tradition of forming the composition of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, when the task of the appointing authorities will be to find independent, honest and professional candidates. This is the common interest of all of us - the national interest of the entire Ukrainian people, especially in times of war.
“Becoming a judge of the Constitutional Court in today's conditions is also a great honour and responsibility. I wish Serhiy Riznyk inspiration in this difficult and responsible work, and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine great success in strengthening the rule of law and the national Constitution,” the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said.
The special plenary session of the Court was also attended by the President of the Supreme Court Stanislav Kravchenko, Head of the Council of Judges of Ukraine Bohdan Monich, Chairman of the Association of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Ivan Dombrovsky, government officials, citizens of Ukraine and media representatives.
The video recording of the special plenary session is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f08-3tw9-TE.
For reference. Serhiy Riznyk, Doctor of Law, Professor of the Department of Constitutional Law, Vice-Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work and International Cooperation of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
After successfully passing the assessment by the Advisory Group of Experts, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appointed him as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine on 23 May 2017 under Resolution No. 3746-IX.
