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On main provisions of the draft law of Ukraine "On Introduction of Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine" |
| N 24 | 07.03.03 |
The draft law of Ukraine "On Introduction of Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine" provides for the provisions to ensure the implementation of the reform of the Ukrainian political system initiated by the President of Ukraine.
The main provisions of the draft law are as follows.
1. The draft provides for a change in the procedure of appointment of the Prime-Minister of Ukraine and the formation of the Government of Ukraine.
Thus, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the State Assembly) shall appoint the Prime-Minister of Ukraine. The President shall propose the candidate of the Prime-Minister of Ukraine, agreed by the permanent parliamentary majority, for nomination.
As to the appointment of the other members of the Government of Ukraine, it is envisaged that the President of Ukraine shall continue to appoint the Minister for Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Minister of Ukraine for Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from Consequences of Chornobyl Catastrophe, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Minister for Defense of Ukraine.
The other members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine are to be appointed by the Parliament (by its lower chamber - the State Assembly). The Prime-Minister of Ukraine nominates the members of the Government of Ukraine to be approved by the President of Ukraine and the State Assembly respectively.
The draft also introduces changes to the procedure of appointing heads of central executive bodies that are not members of the Government of Ukraine.
In particular, the President of Ukraine appoints the Head of the State Tax Administration of Ukraine, the Head of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, the Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Head of the State Border Committee of Ukraine.
Other heads of central executive bodies that are not members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (as of February 20, 2003, there are 38 such bodies), are to be appointed by the Government of Ukraine.
At the same time, the power of the President of Ukraine to appoint half of the members of the Board of the National Bank of Ukraine shall be delegated to the Government of Ukraine.
Such distribution of powers will allow to rest the responsibility for the state policy, primarily in social and economic fields as well as implementation of relevant reforms with the Parliament of Ukraine that formed the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and through legislation set forth the criteria of the Government's activities in the relevant sphere, as well as with the Prime-Minister of Ukraine and his Government.
Alongside with the above provisions, the draft envisages an introduction of the relevant "checks and balances" mechanisms.
In particular, the following rights are stipulated for the President:
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to dissolve the lower chamber of the Parliament - the State Assembly - in case: 1) the State Assembly fails to form the Cabinet of Ministers within 60 days after the Cabinet's dismissal; 2) the permanent Parliamentary majority is not formed in the Chamber within one month; 3) the State Budget of Ukraine for the following year is not approved by December 1; |
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to introduce to the State Assembly motion to consider the responsibility of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. |
In its turn, the State Assembly is to have the right to pass the non-confidence resolution to the entire Cabinet of Ministers (including the members of the Government of Ukraine appointed by the President of Ukraine).
The non-confidence resolution to the Prime Minister of Ukraine or to the entire Cabinet of Ministers, adopted by the State Assembly, would result in resignation of the Government of Ukraine in full, with the President of Ukraine dismissing the Ministers that he had appointed.
Another element of the new mechanism is the possibility for the Government of Ukraine to introduce the draft along with the provision for the "vote of confidence". It means that the draft is being introduced along with the Cabinet of Ministers' resignation in case a relevant law is not passed in its originally introduced form.
2. Taking into consideration the results of the All-Ukrainian referendum that was held according to the people's initiative on April 16, 2000 and in order to provide the effective functioning of the Parliament the draft envisages the following:
- to lower the overall number of members of the legislative body - 300 deputies are to be elected to the lower chamber; and 3 deputies from each of 27 regions to the upper chamber (thus, 81 deputies of Ukraine);
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to form the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as the two-chambered Parliament.
In this regard it is envisaged that the deputies of the lower chamber of the Parliament shall be elected in accordance with the proportional system.
As it was mentioned the upper chamber of the Verkhovna Rada - the chamber of Regions shall be formed according to the draft on the basis of ensuring the representation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regions, cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol. It would enable to considerably improve the situation with the real representation of the interests of Ukrainian regions in the legislative body.
At the same time the existence of two chambers in the Parliament will improve the quality of the adopted laws as every law will be double-checked - in the lower and the upper chambers;
- mandatory formation within one month of the permanent parliamentary majority in the lower chamber of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the State Assembly) from the composition of the State Assembly, envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine, on the basis of coordination and alignment of political stances of the people's deputies of Ukraine, them being the members of this Chamber. Failure to create this majority may result in the dissolution of the lower chamber by the President of Ukraine.
3. In order to ensure stability in the state for a certain period of time and to avoid transforming Ukraine into a state with permanent elections and endless election campaigns, the draft envisages to hold regular elections of the President of Ukraine, regular elections to the Parliament, elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and to the bodies of local self-government within one calendar year. In this connection it is proposed to extend the term in office of the Parliament and of the bodies of local self-government to five years.
The draft provides for the introduction of the following succession and the dates of regular elections to be held in the course of one calendar year:
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to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine - the last Sunday of March; |
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to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the local bodies of self-government - the second Sunday of September; |
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of the President of Ukraine - the first Sunday of December. |
To ensure proper functioning of such election mechanism, the draft also envisages that:
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in case the President or other elected bodies leave his/their office before the expiration of his/their term, the newly elected President or these bodies exercise their authority until the next regular elections; |
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the authority of the State Assembly of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine cannot be terminated pre-term in the course of the last six months' period prior to the regular elections; |
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in case of pre-term cessation of authority of the President of Ukraine, extraordinary presidential elections shall not be held, if cessation of authority occurred one year ahead of the date of regular elections. |
4. Experience shows that transition to permanent appointment of judges was premature. For that reason, the draft envisages that judges, with the exception of the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, are to be elected by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the term of ten years according to the procedure determined by the law.
To ensure that the Constitutional Court of Ukraine and the highest judicial body - the Supreme Court of Ukraine - are formed from the highly qualified experts in law, the draft provides for the following:
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members of the Constitutional Court are to be appointed on a parity basis - 9 judges by the President of Ukraine and 9 judges by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Chamber of Regions); |
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to limit the age requirements for judges of the Constitutional Court and the members of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to 75 years; |
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to lift restrictions that would enable reappointment of the same person to the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court (it is envisaged that a person can be appointed as a judge up to two times); |
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to lift any restrictions that limit the term in office of the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. |
5. In application of the Article 5 of the Constitution of Ukraine which establishes that the People are bearer of sovereignty and the only source of power in the state and can govern directly, the draft introduces the ability to adopt legislation through the All-Ukrainian referendum. Such laws have high legal force and do not require any additional endorsement by the bodies of state power or state officials. They have to be signed by the President of Ukraine and cannot be subject to veto.
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Consulate General of Ukraine in Toronto |
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