The Statement of the Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopted
Today, 5 January, the assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine were held to consider the situation which had arisen with regard to the Decree of the President of Ukraine “On Removal of the Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine” No. 607/202 issued on 29 December 2020.
Upon the results of the assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine the following statement was adopted.
STATEMENT
of the Assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine
Kyiv, 5 January 2021
The Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine are concerned with the situation which arose with regard to the Decree of the President of Ukraine “On Removal of the Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine” No. 607/202 issued on 29 December 2020.
In Ukraine as a law-based state (Article 1 of the Constitution of Ukraine) the state power is exercised on the principles of its division into legislative, executive and judicial power (Article 6.1 of the Constitution of Ukraine).
The Constitution of Ukraine has the highest legal force. Laws and other normative legal acts are adopted on the basis of the Constitution of Ukraine and shall conform to it (Article 8.2 of the Constitution of Ukraine).
Bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government and their officials are obliged to act only on the grounds, within the limits of authority, and in the manner envisaged by the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine (Article 19.2 of the Constitution of Ukraine).
The Basic Law establishes grounds and the procedure of dismissal of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine from office or termination of his/her powers, his/her detention or holing in custody or under arrest (Articles 149, 1491 of the Constitution of Ukraine).
In their activities, the bodies of state power and their officials must strictly adhere to the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, including those which guarantee the independence of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, independence and inviolability of the judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (Articles 147, 149 of the Constitution of Ukraine).
A Judge of the Constitutional Court shall exercise his/her powers guided by the Constitution of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine”, on the basis of the rule of law (Article 24.1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine”).
The assembly of Judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine draws attention to the inadmissibility of non-observance of the rules of the Constitution of Ukraine by the bodies of state power and officials, which may lead to blocking the work of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, that will make impossible the exercise of constitutional control in order to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution of Ukraine, assertion of human rights and freedom.
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Apart from this, the Court received a research opinion on removal from office of the Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in criminal proceedings provided by the members of the Research and Consultative Council of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.
