18 December, 2024
On 18 December 2024, the First Senate deliberated the case upon the constitutional complaint of Oleksandr Tretiak regarding the constitutionality of Article 30.6 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offences (hereinafter, the “Code”) in the public part of the plenary session in the form of written proceedings.
During the plenary session, the judge-rapporteur Olha Sovhyria informed that the case was being deliberated by the First Senate of the Court due to the termination of the powers of the previous judge-rapporteur and as a result of the redistribution of cases. In order to ensure the exercise of the rights of the participants in the constitutional proceedings, in November this year the First Senate adopted a resolution resuming the deliberation of this case in the public part of the plenary session in the form of written proceedings.
The judge-rapporteur informed about the subject of constitutional review and the content of the constitutional complaint. She noted that the applicant challenged Article 30.6 of the Code, which stipulates that an administrative penalty in the form of deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities is imposed by a court for a period of six months to one year, regardless of whether it is specified in the sanction of an article (sanction of a part of an article) of the Special Part of the Code, when, taking into account the nature of the administrative offense committed in an official capacity, the person who committed the administrative offense, and other circumstances of the case, the court finds it impossible to preserve the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities.
The author of the complaint, Oleksandr Tretiak, was elected mayor of Rivne in late 2020. In July 2023, the Rivne City Court of Rivne Oblast issued a ruling finding Mr Tretiak guilty of committing administrative offences under Article 172-7.1, 172-7.2 of the Code, namely: failure to notify a person in the cases and in the manner prescribed by law of a real conflict of interest; taking actions or making decisions in conditions of a real conflict of interest. The court imposed an administrative penalty in the form of a fine in the amount of four hundred tax-free minimum incomes with an additional penalty in the form of deprivation of the right to hold positions related to the performance of state or local government functions for a period of one year pursuant of Article 30.6 of the Code.
The complainant appealed the first instance court's decision to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed his appeal and upheld the first instance court's decision.
According to Oleksandr Tretiak, the disputed provision of the Code does not comply with Articles 5.2, 7, 8.1, 32.1, 38.1 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
The judge-rapporteur informed that in order to ensure a full and comprehensive deliberation of the case, requests were sent to express their position on the issues raised in the applicant's constitutional complaint, namely: to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, scientific institutions, higher education establishments, academicians, the European Commission for Democracy through Law, the All-Ukrainian Association of Local Self-Government Bodies “Association of Ukrainian Cities”. Olha Sovhyria noted that the responses received are included in the case file.
The session was attended by the subject of the constitutional complaint, Oleksandr Tretiak, the authorised person acting on behalf of the subject of the constitutional complaint, lawyer Valeriia Lutkovska.
In this case, the Court proceeded to the in-camera part of the plenary session.
The video recording of the session is available on the official website of the Court in the section “Archive of video broadcasts of sessions”.
