Constitutional Court of Ukraine
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Конституційний Суд України, romanized: Konstytutsiinyi Sud Ukrainy) is the sole body of constitutional jurisdiction in Ukraine. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine interprets the Constitution of Ukraine in terms of laws and other legal acts.
Constitutional Court of Ukraine (Конституційний Суд України)
1992; acts since 1996
Presidential, Parliamentary and Congress of Judges nomination
9; prohibited if aged 65
18 (assigned by President, Parliament, Congress of Judges; 6 each)
vacant
15 May 2022
Serhiy Holovaty[2]
17 September 2019[2]
The Court initiated its activity on 18 October 1996. The first Court ruling was made on 13 May 1997.
On urgent matters the Constitutional Court rules within weeks, but on matters deemed less urgent it can take months.[3]
Decisions of the Constitutional Court are binding, final, and cannot be appealed.[4]
In 2016, access to the Constitutional Court was significantly broadened.[5] Since then all individuals and companies where there are grounds to claim that a final court judgment contradicts the Constitution can file a complaint at the court.[5] (Prior only the President and a member of parliament had the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court.[6]) A complaint may only be filed after all other remedies have been exhausted in the regular Ukrainian courts.[5]
The authority of the Constitutional Court is derived from Ukraine's Constitution – Chapter XII
The Court:
The Court's rulings are mandatory for execution in Ukraine, are final and cannot be appealed.[4] Laws and other legal acts, or their separate provisions, that are deemed unconstitutional, lose legal force.
The Court is composed of 18 judges, appointed in equal shares by the President, the parliament, and the Congress of Judges.
A judge must be a citizen of Ukraine and must have:
Judges are appointed for 9 years without the right of reappointment; moreover each judge is obligated to retire at the age of 65 if this age comes before the end of the 9-year period. The President and parliament are required to fill a vacant position within one month and the Congress of judges has three months to do so. But the appointment comes into effect only after oath of the new judge in the parliament; therefore sometimes it is a problem to become a judge of the Constitutional Court if many members of parliament do not want this (for example, they can physically disturb to hold a meeting of the parliament, that is usual in Ukraine).
The Chairman of the Court is elected by secret ballot for a single three-year term from and by the members of the Court.