The Court considered the case upon the constitutional petition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights at the public part of the plenary session
Today, on March 4, the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine at the public part of the plenary session in the form of written proceedings considered the case upon the constitutional petition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights on the constitutionality of parts five, sixteen of Article 16 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of Ukraine on Health Care of November 19, 1992 №2801–XII as amended (hereinafter - the Fundamentals), Article 4.6 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Financial Guarantees of Medical Care of the Population” of October 19, 2017 №2168–VIII (hereinafter - the Law №2168), Article 29.4 of the Law of Ukraine "On Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases" of April 6, 2000 №1645-III as amended (hereinafter - the Law №1645), paragraph two of section II of the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments and Repeal of Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine" of December 28, 2014 №76–VIII (hereinafter - the Law №76).
During the public part of the plenary session, Judge-Rapporteur Viktor Horodovenko provided information on the content of the constitutional petition and the grounds for initiating constitutional proceedings in the case.
The Judge-Rapporteur noted that substantiating the unconstitutionality of the disputed provisions of the Fundamentals, Law №76, the petitioner emphasizes that they violate a number of provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine, including Article 49, which guarantees "non-reduction of the existing network of state and municipal health care institutions."
According to Judge-Rapporteur, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights believes that the application of the disputed provisions of the Fundamentals "in the practice of local self-government bodies often leads to unjustified termination of health care institutions that provide medical care and necessary medical services"; the reduction of the existing network of state and municipal health care institutions is a reduction in the quantitative indicators of the provision of medical care to the population."
The subject of the right to a constitutional petition also argues that the provision of Article 4.6 of the Law №2168, except in cases established by law, "is unconstitutional because it does not meet the constitutional conditions of legality of restrictions on the right to health care" and "the possibility of narrowing medical guarantee programs in the above legislative provision… contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine".
According to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights, the provision of Article 29.4 of the Law №1645, according to which “temporary restrictions on the rights of individuals and legal entities are established” is also unconstitutional, as they “do not specify which rights in the conditions of quarantine and for what period of time can be limited."
The Judge-Rapporteur during the plenary session informed that in order to ensure a full and objective consideration of the case and the Court's decision, inquiries were sent to state bodies and institutions to clarify their positions on issues raised in the constitutional petition.
Having examined the case file at the public part, the Court proceeded to the in-camera part for a decision.
The plenary session of the Grand Chamber was attended by the subject of the right to a constitutional petition, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova and the representative of the subject of the right to a constitutional petition, the representative of the Commissioner for Observance of the Right to Information and Representation to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Viktor Barvitskyi.
The public part of the plenary session is available on the official website of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine at the following link: http://sv1.ccu.gov.ua/video_ccu/ksu_04_03_2021_1.mp4 .
