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Judge of the Constitutional Court of Berlin visited the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
On October 25–27, 2017 judge of the Constitutional Court of Berlin Meinhard Starostik visited the Constitutional Court of Ukraine with Expert Mission.
The event was organised by the TAIEX Expert Mission on Constitutional Complaints in co-operation with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
The purpose of the Expert Mission was to support the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in the process of reviewing and amending the Rules of Procedure for the lawful consideration of cases and reducing the number of applications of Ukrainian citizens to the European Court of Human Rights.
Judge of the Constitutional Court of Berlin Meinhard Starostik, Head of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Yaroslav Vasylkevych, staff of the Secretariat of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine took part in the event.
An expert from Germany, Judge of the Constitutional Court of Berlin Meinhard Starostik presented an overview of the structure and general competence of the Constitutional Court of Berlin, in particular on the development of constitutional complaints and formal requirements for complaints. The way of communicating with the applicant was also analysed. The expert paid special attention to the procedure for preparing court records and the structure of its decisions.
The Constitutional Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany includes two levels: the federal Constitutional Court and the constitutional courts of lands, said Meinhard Starostik. The highest body in the system of constitutional justice of Federal Republic of Germany is the Federal Constitutional Court, which is independent from all constitutional ones. The main task of this court is to ensure the balance between the branches of state power, the mutual responsibility between the state and the citizen. The Federal Constitutional Court resolves disputable issues of interpretation of the Constitution, for example, between the federation and the lands or between individual federal bodies. The Constitutional Court is effective only when certain bodies, such as the federal government, the land government, at least a third part of the members of parliament or the courts, appeal to it.
According to the Constitution of Germany each land has the right to create its own constitutional court, said the expert. The Constitutional Court of Land is an absolutely independent body. According to the judge, the Federal Constitutional Court does not head the system of constitutional courts of land and does not control constitutional proceedings on land. On issues determined by law, constitutional courts of land are the first and last instance, mainly in resolving issues on the compliance of land legislation with the constitution of the land and resolving disputes between the authorities of the land. The constitutional courts of land are established in all German lands except for the land of Schleswig-Holstein, also noted Meinhard Starostik.
The speaker informed the participants of the event that every citizen has the right to submit a constitutional complaint if he/she feels himself/herself deprived of the fundamental rights of the state. However, before that, the person must, as a rule, appeal to the competent court and get a refusal there.
The subject of a constitutional complaint is the violation by the state power of the fundamental rights of person, enshrined in the Fundamental Law of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The expert from Germany elaborated on the requirements for the constitutional complaint. He stressed that the constitutional complaint should contain a clear indication of violation of the fundamental human rights by the state authorities. According to him, laws and other acts of the parliament, administrative acts, as well as judicial decisions, that is, any acts, acts or omissions of state authorities and government bodies, can be subject to appeal.
During the event, the participants discussed the issues of communication between the Court and the applicant, the cooperation of the rapporteur judge and the court apparatus, the registration of complaints, the distribution of cases, the cooperation of the scientific adviser and the rapporteur judge, the procedure for preparing Court records, in particular the procedure in the case of unacceptable manifestly unreasonable complaints, the injunction.
Within the framework of the event, the guests were given a tour of the premises of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, during which they visited the Courtroom, the Press Center, examined the museum exposition of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, reviewed the exhibits, including souvenirs, medals, books, donated by the bodies of constitutional jurisdiction from all over the world, as well as state authorities of Ukraine and foreign countries, international organisations, judicial institutions and educational establishments.
At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors thanked each other for the constructive meeting and expressed their hope for further fruitful cooperation.
