Constitution of Ukraine
Chapter I
General Principles
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
Article 4
Article 5
Article 6
Article 7
Article 8
Article 9
Article 10
Article 11
Article 12
Article 13
Article 14
Article 15
Article 16
Article 17
Article 18
Article 19
Article 20
Chapter II
Human and Citizens' Rights, Freedoms and Duties
Article 21
Article 22
Article 23
Article 24
- Citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law.
- There shall be no privileges or restrictions based on race, colour of skin, political, religious and other beliefs, sex, ethnic and social origin, property status, place of residence, linguistic or other characteristics.
- Equality of the rights of women and men is ensured: by providing women with opportunities equal to those of men, in public and political, and cultural activity, in obtaining education and in professional training, in work and its remuneration; by spe cial measures for the protection of work and health of women; by establishing pension privileges, by creating conditions that allow women to combine work and motherhood; by legal protection, material and moral support of motherhood and childhood, includin g the provision of paid leaves and other privileges to pregnant women and mothers.
Article 25
Article 26
Article 27
Article 28
Article 29
Article 30
Article 31
Article 32
- No one shall be subject to interference in his or her personal and family life, except in cases envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine.
- The collection, storage, use and dissemination of confidential information about a person without his or her consent shall not be permitted, except in cases determined by law, and only in the interests of national security, economic welfare and human rights.
- Every citizen has the right to examine information about himself or herself, that is not a state secret or other secret protected by law, at the bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government, institutions and organisations.
- Everyone is guaranteed judicial protection of the right to rectify incorrect information about himself or herself and members of his or her family, and of the right to demand that any type of information be expunged, and also the right to compensation for material and moral damages inflicted by the collection, storage, use and dissemination of such incorrect information.
Article 33
Article 34
- Everyone is guaranteed the right to freedom of thought and speech, and to the free expression of his or her views and beliefs.
- Everyone has the right to freely collect, store, use and disseminate information by oral, written or other means of his or her choice.
- The exercise of these rights may be restricted by law in the interests of national security, territorial indivisibility or public order, with the purpose of preventing disturbances or crimes, protecting the health of the population, the reputation or rights of other persons, preventing the publication of information received confidentially, or supporting the authority and impartiality of justice.
Article 35
Article 36
Article 37
- The establishment and activity of political parties and public associations are prohibited if their programme goals or actions are aimed at the liquidation of the independence of Ukraine, the change of the constitutional order by violent means, the vi olation of the sovereignty and territorial indivisibility of the State, the undermining of its security, the unlawful seizure of state power, the propaganda of war and of violence, the incitement of inter-ethnic, racial, or religious enmity, and the encro achments on human rights and freedoms and the health of the population.
- Political parties and public associations shall not have paramilitary formations.
- The creation and activity of organisational structures of political parties shall not be permitted within bodies of executive and judicial power and executive bodies of local self-government, in military formations, and also in state enterprises, educ ational establishments and other state institutions and organisations.
- The prohibition of the activity of associations of citizens is exercised only through judicial procedure.
Article 38
Article 39
Article 40
Article 41
- Everyone has the right to own, use and dispose of his or her property, and the results of his or her intellectual and creative activity.
- The right of private property is acquired by the procedure determined by law.
- In order to satisfy their needs, citizens may use the objects of the right of state and communal property in accordance with the law.
- No one shall be unlawfully deprived of the right of property. The right of private property is inviolable.
- The expropriation of objects of the right of private property may be applied only as an exception for reasons of social necessity, on the grounds of and by the procedure established by law, and on the condition of advance and complete compensation of their value. The expropriation of such objects with subsequent complete compensation of their value is permitted only under conditions of martial law or a state of emergency.
- Confiscation of property may be applied only pursuant to a court decision, in the cases, in the extent and by the procedure established by law.
- The use of property shall not cause harm to the rights, freedoms and dignity of citizens, the interests of society, aggravate the ecological situation and the natural qualities of land.
Article 42
Article 43
- Everyone has the right to labour, including the possibility to earn one's living by labour that he or she freely chooses or to which he or she freely agrees.
- The State creates conditions for citizens to fully realise their right to labour, guarantees equal opportunities in the choice of profession and of types of labour activity, implements programmes of vocational education, training and retraining of per sonnel according to the needs of society.
- The use of forced labour is prohibited. Military or alternative (non-military) service, and also work or service carried out by a person in compliance with a verdict or other court decision, or in accordance with the laws on martial law or on a state of emergency, are not considered to be forced labour.
- Everyone has the right to proper, safe and healthy work conditions, and to remuneration no less than the minimum wage as determined by law.
- The employment of women and minors for work that is hazardous to their health, is prohibited.
- Citizens are guaranteed protection from unlawful dismissal.
- The right to timely payment for labour is protected by law.
Article 44
Article 45
Article 46
Article 47
Article 48
Article 49
Article 50
Article 51
Article 52
Article 53
Article 54
Article 55
Article 56
Article 57
Article 58
Article 59
Article 60
Article 61
Article 62
Article 63
Article 64
- Constitutional human and citizens' rights and freedoms shall not be restricted, except in cases envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine.
- Under conditions of martial law or a state of emergency, specific restrictions on rights and freedoms may be established with the indication of the period of effectiveness of these restrictions. The rights and freedoms envisaged in Articles 24, 25, 2 7, 28, 29, 40, 47, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 and 63 of this Constitution shall not be restricted.
Article 65
Article 66
Article 67
Article 68
Chapter III
Elections. Referendum
Article 69
Article 70
Article 71
Article 72
Article 73
Article 74
Chapter IV
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Article 75
Article 76
Article 77
Article 78
Article 79
Article 80
Article 81
Article 82
Article 83
Article 84
Article 85
- The authority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine comprises:
- 1) introducing amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine within the limits and by the procedure envisaged by Chapter XIII of this Constitution;
- 2) designating an All-Ukrainian referendum on issues determined by Article 73 of this Constitution;
- 3) adopting laws;
- 4) approving the State Budget of Ukraine and introducing amendments to it; controlling the implementation of the State Budget of Ukraine and adopting decisions in regard to the report on its implementation;
- 5) determining the principles of domestic and foreign policy;
- 6) approving national programmes of economic, scientific and technical, social, national and cultural development, and the protection of the environment;
- 7) designating elections of the President of Ukraine within the terms envisaged by this Constitution;
- 8) hearing annual and special messages of the President of Ukraine on the domestic and foreign situation of Ukraine;
- 9) declaring war upon the submission of the President of Ukraine and concluding peace, approving the decision of the President of Ukraine on the use of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations in the event of armed aggression against Ukraine;
- 10) removing the President of Ukraine from office in accordance with the special procedure (impeachment) established by Article 111 of this Constitution;
- 11) considering and adopting the decision in regard to the approval of the Programme of Activity of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
- 12) giving consent to the appointment of the Prime Minister of Ukraine by the President of Ukraine;
- 13) exercising control over the activity of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in accordance with this Constitution;
- 14) confirming decisions on granting loans and economic aid by Ukraine to foreign states and international organisations and also decisions on Ukraine receiving loans not envisaged by the State Budget of Ukraine from foreign states, banks and internat ional financial organisations, exercising control over their use;
- 15) appointing or electing to office, dismissing from office, granting consent to the appointment to and the dismissal from office of persons in cases envisaged by this Constitution;
- 16) appointing to office and dismissing from office the Chairman and other members of the Chamber of Accounting;
- 17) appointing to office and dismissing from office the Authorised Human Rights Representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; hearing his or her annual reports on the situation of the observance and protection of human rights and freedoms in Ukrain e;
- 18) appointing to office and dismissing from office the Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine on the submission of the President of Ukraine;
- 19) appointing and dismissing one-half of the composition of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine;
- 20) appointing one-half of the composition of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting;
- 21) appointing to office and terminating the authority of the members of the Central Electoral Commission on the submission of the President of Ukraine;
- 22) confirming the general structure and numerical strength, and defining the functions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine and other military formations created in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, and also the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine;
- 23) approving decisions on providing military assistance to other states, on sending units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to another state, or on admitting units of armed forces of other states on to the territory of Ukraine;
- 24) granting consent for the appointment to office and the dismissal from office by the President of Ukraine of the Chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine and the Chairman of the State Com mittee on Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine;
- 25) granting consent for the appointment to office by the President of Ukraine of the Procurator General of Ukraine; declaring no confidence in the Procurator General of Ukraine that has the result of his or her resignation from office;
- 26) appointing one-third of the composition of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
- 27) electing judges for permanent terms;
- 28) terminating prior to the expiration of the term of authority of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, based on the opinion of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine that the Constitution of Ukraine or the laws of Ukraine have been violated by the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea; designating special elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- 29) establishing and abolishing districts, establishing and altering the boundaries of districts and cities, assigning inhabited localities to the category of cities, naming and renaming inhabited localities and districts;
- 30) designating regular and special elections to bodies of local self-government;
- 31) confirming, within two days from the moment of the address by the President of Ukraine, decrees on the introduction of martial law or of a state of emergency in Ukraine or in its particular areas, on total or partial mobilisation, and on the annou ncement of particular areas as zones of an ecological emergency situation;
- 32) granting consent to the binding character of international treaties of Ukraine within the term established by law, and denouncing international treaties of Ukraine;
- 33) exercising parliamentary control within the limits determined by this Constitution;
- 34) adopting decisions on forwarding an inquiry to the President of Ukraine on the demand of a National Deputy of Ukraine, a group of National Deputies or a Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, previously supported by no less than one-third of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- 35) appointing to office and dismissing from office the Head of Staff of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; approving the budget of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the structure of its staff;
- 36) confirming the list of objects of the right of state property that are not subject to privatisation; determining the legal principles for the expropriation of objects of the right of private property.
- The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine exercises other powers ascribed to its competence in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine.
Article 86
Article 87
Article 88
Article 89
Article 90
Article 91
Article 92
- The following are determined exclusively by the laws of Ukraine:
- 1) human and citizens' rights and freedoms, the guarantees of these rights and freedoms; the main duties of the citizen;
- 2) citizenship, the legal personality of citizens, the status of foreigners and stateless persons;
- 3) the rights of indigenous peoples and national minorities;
- 4) the procedure for the use of languages;
- 5) the principles of the use of natural resources, the exclusive (maritime) economic zone and the continental shelf, the exploration of outer space, the organisation and operation of power supply systems, transportation and communications;
- 6) the fundamentals of social protection, the forms and types of pension provision; the principles of the regulation of labour and employment, marriage, family, the protection of childhood, motherhood and fatherhood; upbringing, education, culture and health care; ecological safety;
- 7) the legal regime of property;
- 8) the legal principles and guarantees of entrepreneurship; the rules of competition and the norms of antimonopoly regulation;
- 9) the principles of foreign relations, foreign economic activity and customs;
- 10) the principles of the regulation of demographic and migration processes;
- 11) the principles of the establishment and activity of political parties, other associations of citizens, and the mass media;
- 12) the organisation and activity of bodies of executive power, the fundamentals of civil service, the organisation of state statistics and informatics;
- 13) the territorial structure of Ukraine;
- 14) the judicial system, judicial proceedings, the status of judges, the principles of judicial expertise, the organisation and operation of the procuracy, the bodies of inquiry and investigation, the notary, the bodies and institutions for the execut ion of punishments; the fundamentals of the organisation and activity of the advocacy;
- 15) the principles of local self-government;
- 16) the status of the capital of Ukraine; the special status of other cities;
- 17) the fundamentals of national security, the organisation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and ensuring public order;
- 18) the legal regime of the state border;
- 19) the legal regime of martial law and a state of emergency, zones of an ecological emergency situation;
- 20) the organisation and procedure for conducting elections and referendums;
- 21) the organisation and operational procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the status of National Deputies of Ukraine;
- 22) the principles of civil legal liability; acts that are crimes, administrative or disciplinary offences, and liability for them.
- The following are established exclusively by the laws of Ukraine:
- 1) the State Budget of Ukraine and the budgetary system of Ukraine; the system of taxation, taxes and levies; the principles of the formation and operation of financial, monetary, credit and investment markets; the status of the national currency and also the status of foreign currencies on the territory of Ukraine; the procedure for the formation and payment of state domestic and foreign debt; the procedure for the issuance and circulation of state securities, their types and forms;
- 2) the procedure for deploying units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to other states; the procedure for admitting and the terms for stationing units of armed forces of other states on the territory of Ukraine;
- 3) units of weight, measure and time; the procedure for establishing state standards;
- 4) the procedure for the use and protection of state symbols;
- 5) state awards;
- 6) military ranks, diplomatic and other special ranks;
- 7) state holidays;
- 8) the procedure for the establishment and functioning of free and other special zones that have an economic and migration regime different from the general regime.
- Amnesty is declared by the law of Ukraine.
Article 93
Article 94
- The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine signs a law and forwards it without delay to the President of Ukraine.
- Within fifteen days of the receipt of a law, the President of Ukraine signs it, accepting it for execution, and officially promulgates it, or returns it to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with substantiated and formulated proposals for repeat considerat ion.
- In the event that the President of Ukraine has not returned a law for repeat consideration within the established term, the law is deemed to be approved by the President of Ukraine and shall be signed and officially promulgated.
- If a law, during its repeat consideration, is again adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by no less than two-thirds of its constitutional composition, the President of Ukraine is obliged to sign and to officially promulgate it within ten days.
- A law enters into force in ten days from the day of its official promulgation, unless otherwise envisaged by the law itself, but not prior to the day of its publication.
Article 95
Article 96
Article 97
Article 98
Article 99
Article 100
Article 101
Chapter V
President of Ukraine
Article 102
Article 103
- The President of Ukraine is elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a five-year term, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.
- A citizen of Ukraine who has attained the age of thirty-five, has the right to vote, has resided in Ukraine for the past ten years prior to the day of elections, and has command of the state language, may be elected as the President of Ukraine.
- One and the same person shall not be the President of Ukraine for more than two consecutive terms.
- The President of Ukraine shall not have another representative mandate, hold office in bodies of state power or in associations of citizens, and also perform any other paid or entrepreneurial activity, or be a member of an administrative body or board of supervisors of an enterprise that is aimed at making profit.
- Regular elections of the President of Ukraine are held on the last Sunday of October of the fifth year of the term of authority of the President of Ukraine. In the event of pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine, elections of t he President of Ukraine are held within ninety days from the day of termination of the authority.
- The procedure for conducting elections of the President of Ukraine is established by law.
Article 104
- The newly-elected President of Ukraine assumes office no later than in thirty days after the official announcement of the election results, from the moment of taking the oath to the people at a ceremonial meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
- The Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine administers the oath to the President of Ukraine.
- The President of Ukraine takes the following oath:
- "I, (name and surname), elected by the will of the people as the President of Ukraine, assuming this high office, do solemnly swear allegiance to Ukraine. I pledge with all my undertakings to protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, to pr ovide for the good of the Motherland and the welfare of the Ukrainian people, to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens, to abide by the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine, to exercise my duties in the interests of all compatriots, and t o enhance the prestige of Ukraine in the world."
- The President of Ukraine, elected by special elections, takes the oath within five days after the official announcement of the election results.
Article 105
Article 106
- The President of Ukraine:
- 1) ensures state independence, national security and the legal succession of the state;
- 2) addresses the people with messages and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with annual and special messages on the domestic and foreign situation of Ukraine;
- 3) represents the state in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the State, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties of Ukraine;
- 4) adopts decisions on the recognition of foreign states;
- 5) appoints and dismisses heads of diplomatic missions of Ukraine to other states and to international organisations; accepts credentials and letters of recall of diplomatic representatives of foreign states;
- 6) designates an All-Ukrainian referendum regarding amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine in accordance with Article 156 of this Constitution, proclaims an All-Ukrainian referendum on popular initiative;
- 7) designates special elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine within the terms established by this Constitution;
- 8) terminates the authority of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, if the plenary meetings fail to commence within thirty days of one regular session;
- 9) appoints the Prime Minister of Ukraine with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine; terminates the authority of the Prime Minister of Ukraine and adopts a decision on his or her resignation;
- 10) appoints, on the submission of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, chief officers of other central bodies of executive power, and also the heads of local state administrations, and terminates their author ity in these positions;
- 11) appoints the Procurator General of Ukraine to office with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and dismisses him or her from office;
- 12) appoints one-half of the composition of the Council of the National Bank of Ukraine;
- 13) appoints one-half of the composition of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting;
- 14) appoints to office and dismisses from office, with the consent of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Chairman of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, the Chairman of the State Property Fund of Ukraine and the Chairman of the State Committee on T elevision and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine;
- 15) establishes, reorganises and liquidates, on the submission of the Prime Minister of Ukraine, ministries and other central bodies of executive power, acting within the limits of funding envisaged for the maintenance of bodies of executive power;
- 16) revokes acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and acts of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;
- 17) is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; appoints to office and dismisses from office the high command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations; administers in the spheres of national security and defence of th e State;
- 18) heads the Council of National Security and Defence of Ukraine;
- 19) forwards the submission to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the declaration of a state of war, and adopts the decision on the use of the Armed Forces in the event of armed aggression against Ukraine;
- 20) adopts a decision in accordance with the law on the general or partial mobilisation and the introduction of martial law in Ukraine or in its particular areas, in the event of a threat of aggression, danger to the state independence of Ukraine;
- 21) adopts a decision, in the event of necessity, on the introduction of a state of emergency in Ukraine or in its particular areas, and also in the event of necessity, declares certain areas of Ukraine as zones of an ecological emergency situation — with subsequent confirmation of these decisions by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- 22) appoints one-third of the composition to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine;
- 23) establishes courts by the procedure determined by law;
- 24) confers high military ranks, high diplomatic and other high special ranks and class orders;
- 25) confers state awards; establishes presidential distinctions and confers them;
- 26) adopts decisions on the acceptance for citizenship of Ukraine and the termination of citizenship of Ukraine, and on the granting of asylum in Ukraine;
- 27) grants pardons;
- 28) creates, within the limits of the funds envisaged in the State Budget of Ukraine, consultative, advisory and other subsidiary bodies and services for the exercise of his or her authority;
- 29) signs laws adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- 30) has the right to veto laws adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with their subsequent return for repeat consideration by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- 31) exercises other powers determined by the Constitution of Ukraine.
- The President of Ukraine shall not transfer his or her powers to other persons or bodies.
- The President of Ukraine, on the basis and for the execution of the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine, issues decrees and directives that are mandatory for execution on the territory of Ukraine.
- Acts of the President of Ukraine, issued within the limits of authority as envisaged in subparagraphs 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23 and 24 of this Article, are co-signed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Minister responsible for th e act and its execution.
Article 107
Article 108
Article 109
Article 110
Article 111
Article 112
- In the event of the pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine in accordance with Articles 108, 109, 110 and 111 of this Constitution, the execution of duties of the President of Ukraine, for the period pending the elections and the assumption of office of the new President of Ukraine, is vested in the Prime Minister of Ukraine. The Prime Minister of Ukraine, for the period of executing the duties of the President of Ukraine, shall not exercise the powers envisaged by subparagraphs 2, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 22, 25 and 27 of Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
Chapter VI
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Other Bodies of Executive Power
Article 113
Article 114
Article 115
Article 116
- The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine:
- 1) ensures the state sovereignty and economic independence of Ukraine, the implementation of domestic and foreign policy of the State, the execution of the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine, and the acts of the President of Ukraine;
- 2) takes measures to ensure human and citizens' rights and freedoms;
- 3) ensures the implementation of financial, pricing, investment and taxation policy; the policy in the spheres of labour and employment of the population, social security, education, science and culture, environmental protection, ecological safety and the utilisation of nature;
- 4) elaborates and implements national programmes of economic, scientific and technical, and social and cultural development of Ukraine;
- 5) ensures equal conditions of development of all forms of ownership; administers the management of objects of state property in accordance with the law;
- 6) elaborates the draft law on the State Budget of Ukraine and ensures the implementation of the State Budget of Ukraine approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and submits a report on its implementation to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- 7) takes measures to ensure the defence capability and national security of Ukraine, public order and to combat crime;
- 8) organises and ensures the implementation of the foreign economic activity of Ukraine, and the operation of customs;
- 9) directs and co-ordinates the operation of ministries and other bodies of executive power;
- 10) performs other functions determined by the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine, and the acts of the President of Ukraine.
Article 117
Article 118
Article 119
Article 120
Chapter VII
Procuracy
Article 121
Article 122
Article 123
Chapter VIII
Justice
Article 124
Article 125
Article 126
Article 127
- Justice is administered by professional judges and, in cases determined by law, people's assessors and jurors.
- Professional judges shall not belong to political parties and trade unions, take part in any political activity, hold a representative mandate, occupy any other paid positions, perform other remunerated work except scholarly, teaching and creative act ivity.
- A citizen of Ukraine, not younger than the age of twenty-five, who has a higher legal education and has work experience in the sphere of law for no less than three years, has resided in Ukraine for no less than ten years and has command of the state l anguage, may be recommended for the office of judge by the Qualification Commission of Judges.
- Persons with professional training in issues of jurisdiction of specialised courts may be judges of these courts. These judges administer justice only as members of a collegium of judges.
- Additional requirements for certain categories of judges in terms of experience, age and their professional level are established by law.
- Protection of the professional interests of judges is exercised by the procedure established by law.
Article 128
Article 129
Article 130
Article 131
- The High Council of Justice operates in Ukraine, whose competence comprises:
- 1) forwarding submissions on the appointment of judges to office or on their dismissal from office;
- 2) adopting decisions in regard to the violation by judges and procurators of the requirements concerning incompatibility;
- 3) exercising disciplinary procedure in regard to judges of the Supreme Court of Ukraine and judges of high specialised courts, and the consideration of complaints regarding decisions on bringing to disciplinary liability judges of courts of appeal an d local courts, and also procurators.
- The High Council of Justice consists of twenty members. The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine, the Congress of Judges of Ukraine, the Congress of Advocates of Ukraine, and the Congress of Representatives of Higher Legal Educational Establishments and Scientific Institutions, each appoint three members to the High Council of Justice, and the All-Ukrainian Conference of Employees of the Procuracy — two members of the High Council of Justice.
- The Chairman of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine and the Procurator General of Ukraine are ex officio members of the High Council of Justice.
Chapter IX
Territorial Structure of Ukraine
Article 132
Article 133
- The system of the administrative and territorial structure of Ukraine is composed of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblasts, districts, cities, city districts, settlements and villages.
- Ukraine is composed of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Vinnytsia Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Zhytomyr Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Kyiv Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Luhansk Ob last, Lviv Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Rivne Oblast, Sumy Oblast, Ternopil Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Kherson Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Chernivtsi Oblast and Chernihiv Oblast, and the Cities of Kyiv and Sevastop ol.
- The Cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol have special status that is determined by the laws of Ukraine.
Chapter X
Autonomous Republic of Crimea
Article 134
Article 135
Article 136
Article 137
- The Autonomous Republic of Crimea exercises normative regulation on the following issues:
- 1) agriculture and forestry;
- 2) land reclamation and mining;
- 3) public works, crafts and trades; charity;
- 4) city construction and housing management;
- 5) tourism, hotel business, fairs;
- 6) museums, libraries, theatres, other cultural establishments, historical and cultural preserves;
- 7) public transportation, roadways, water supply;
- 8) hunting and fishing;
- 9) sanitary and hospital services.
- For reasons of nonconformity of normative legal acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea with the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine may suspend these normative legal acts of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea with a simultaneous appeal to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in regard to their constitutionality.
Article 138
Article 139
Chapter XI
Local Self-Government
Article 140
- Local self-government is the right of a territorial community — residents of a village or a voluntary association of residents of several villages into one village community, residents of a settlement, and of a city — to independently resolve issues o f local character within the limits of the Constitution and the laws of Ukraine.
- Particular aspects of the exercise of local self-government in the Cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol are determined by special laws of Ukraine.
- Local self-government is exercised by a territorial community by the procedure established by law, both directly and through bodies of local self-government: village, settlement and city councils, and their executive bodies.
- District and oblast councils are bodies of local self-government that represent the common interests of territorial communities of villages, settlements and cities.
- The issue of organisation of the administration of city districts lies within the competence of city councils.
- Village, settlement and city councils may permit, upon the initiative of residents, the creation of house, street, block and other bodies of popular self-organisation, and to assign them part of their own competence, finances and property.
Article 141
- A village, settlement and city council is composed of deputies elected for a four-year term by residents of a village, settlement and city on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.
- Territorial communities elect for a four-year-term on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot, the head of the village, settlement and city, respectively, who leads the executive body of the council and presides at its meet ings.
- The status of heads, deputies and executive bodies of a council and their authority, the procedure for their establishment, reorganisation and liquidation, are determined by law.
- The chairman of a district council and the chairman of an oblast council are elected by the respective council and lead the executive staff of the council.
Article 142
- The material and financial basis for local self-government is movable and immovable property, revenues of local budgets, other funds, land, natural resources owned by territorial communities of villages, settlements, cities, city districts, and also o bjects of their common property that are managed by district and oblast councils.
- On the basis of agreement, territorial communities of villages, settlements and cities may join objects of communal property as well as budget funds, to implement joint projects or to jointly finance (maintain) communal enterprises, organisations and establishments, and create appropriate bodies and services for this purpose.
- The State participates in the formation of revenues of the budget of local self-government and financially supports local self-government. Expenditures of bodies of local self-government, that arise from the decisions of bodies of state power, are co mpensated by the state.
Article 143
- Territorial communities of a village, settlement and city, directly or through the bodies of local self-government established by them, manage the property that is in communal ownership; approve programmes of socio-economic and cultural development, a nd control their implementation; approve budgets of the respective administrative and territorial units, and control their implementation; establish local taxes and levies in accordance with the law; ensure the holding of local referendums and the impleme ntation of their results; establish, reorganise and liquidate communal enterprises, organisations and institutions, and also exercise control over their activity; resolve other issues of local importance ascribed to their competence by law.
- Oblast and district councils approve programmes for socio-economic and cultural development of the respective oblasts and districts, and control their implementation; approve district and oblast budgets that are formed from the funds of the state budg et for their appropriate distribution among territorial communities or for the implementation of joint projects, and from the funds drawn on the basis of agreement from local budgets for the realisation of joint socio-economic and cultural programmes, and control their implementation; resolve other issues ascribed to their competence by law.
- Certain powers of bodies of executive power may be assigned by law to bodies of local self-government. The State finances the exercise of these powers from the State Budget of Ukraine in full or through the allocation of certain national taxes to the local budget, by the procedure established by law, transfers the relevant objects of state property to bodies of local self-government.
- Bodies of local self-government, on issues of their exercise of powers of bodies of executive power, are under the control of the respective bodies of executive power.
Article 144
Article 145
Article 146
Chapter XII
Constitutional Court of Ukraine
Article 147
Article 148
Article 149
Article 150
Article 151
Article 152
- Laws and other legal acts, by the decision of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, are deemed to be unconstitutional, in whole or in part, in the event that they do not conform to the Constitution of Ukraine, or if there was a violation of the procedu re established by the Constitution of Ukraine for their review, adoption or their entry into force.
- Laws and other legal acts, or their separate provisions, that are deemed to be unconstitutional, lose legal force from the day the Constitutional Court of Ukraine adopts the decision on their unconstitutionality.
- Material or moral damages, inflicted on physical and legal persons by the acts or actions deemed to be unconstitutional, are compensated by the State by the procedure established by law.
Article 153
Chapter XIII
Introducing Amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine
Article 154
Article 155
Article 156
Article 157
Article 158
Article 159
Chapter XIV
Final Provisions
Article 160
Article 161
Chapter XV
Transitional Provisions
- 1. Laws and other normative acts, adopted prior to this Constitution entering into force, are in force in the part that does not contradict the Constitution of Ukraine.
- 2. After the adoption of the Constitution of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine exercises the authority envisaged by this Constitution.
- Regular elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine shall be held in March 1998.
- 3. Regular elections of the President of Ukraine shall be held on the last Sunday of October 1999.
- 4. The President of Ukraine, within three years after the Constitution of Ukraine enters into force, has the right to issue decrees approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and signed by the Prime-Minister of Ukraine on economic issues not reg ulated by laws, with simultaneous submission of the respective draft law to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, by the procedure established by Article 93 of this Constitution.
- Such a decree of the President of Ukraine takes effect, if within thirty calendar days from the day of submission of the draft law (except the days between sessions), the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine does not adopt the law or does not reject the submitte d draft law by the majority of its constitutional composition, and is effective until a law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on these issues enters into force.
- 5. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is formed in accordance with this Constitution within three months after its entry into force.
- 6. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine is formed in accordance with this Constitution, within three months after its entry into force. Prior to the creation of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the interpretation of laws is performed by the Verkh ovna Rada of Ukraine.
- 7. Heads of local state administrations, upon entry of this Constitution into force, acquire the status of heads of local state administrations in accordance with Article 118 of this Constitution, and after the election of chairmen of the respective councils, tender resignations from office of the chairmen of these councils.
- 8. Village, settlement and city councils and the chairmen of these councils, upon entry of this Constitution of Ukraine into force, exercise the authority as determined by it, until the election of the new composition of these councils in March 1998.
- District and oblast councils, elected prior to the entry of this Constitution into force, exercise the authority as determined by it, until the formation of the new composition of these councils in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine.
- City district councils and their chairmen, upon entry of this Constitution into force, exercise their authority in accordance with the law.
- 9. The procuracy continues to exercise, in accordance with the laws in force, the function of supervision over the observance and application of laws and the function of preliminary investigation, until the laws regulating the activity of state bodies in regard to the control over the observance of laws are put into force, and until the system of pre-trial investigation is formed and the laws regulating its operation are put into effect.
- 10. Prior to the adoption of laws determining the particular aspects of the exercise of executive power in the Cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol in accordance with Article 118 of this Constitution, the executive power in these cities is exercised by the respective city administrations.
- 11. Article 99, paragraph one of this Constitution shall enter into force after the introduction of the national monetary unit — the hryvnia.
- 12. The Supreme Court of Ukraine and the High Court of Arbitration of Ukraine exercise their authority in accordance with the legislation of Ukraine that is in force, until the formation in Ukraine of a system of courts of general jurisdiction, in ac cordance with Article 125 of this Constitution, but for no more than five years.
- Judges of all courts in Ukraine, elected or appointed prior to the day of entry of this Constitution into force, continue to exercise their authority in accordance with the legislation in force, until the expiration of the term for which they were ele cted or appointed.
- Judges whose authority has terminated on the day this Constitution enters into force, continue to exercise their authority for the period of one year.
- 13. The current procedure for arrest, holding in custody and detention of persons suspected of committing a crime, and also for the examination and search of a dwelling place or other possessions of a person, is preserved for five years after this Co nstitution enters into force.
- 14. The use of existing military bases on the territory of Ukraine for the temporary stationing of foreign military formations is possible on the terms of lease, by the procedure determined by the international treaties of Ukraine ratified by the Ver khovna Rada of Ukraine.
Official English translation.
The only authentic text is the text in the state language of Ukraine.
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