The Constitutional Court of Ukraine turns 24.
The CCU has an important mission: to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution of Ukraine, our main law. We want the court to meet the challenges with dignity, without destroying the anti-corruption ecosystem that has been nurtured for so long.
Our feelings about the decisions of the Constitutional Court were often mixed. The CCU abolished the liability for illicit enrichment, but also the declarations for activists.
The Constitutional Court also protected the ARMA. Remember how 56 MPs wanted to claim that certain provisions of the Law “On the ARMA” were unconstitutional? The CCU did not find enough substantiation of the MPs’ claims and ruled it was only their assumption.
The Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the right of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine to challenge “questionable” agreements. Then, during the four years of the Anti-Corruption Bureau’s work, the courts annulled 96 questionable agreements worth UAH 5.3 billion. At the same time, the Court supported TI Ukraine’s stance on distribution of power and on the President’s powers.
Recently, the Court was considering a petition by 49 MPs on the alleged unconstitutionality of the HACC. Let’s take this opportunity to say: While the High Anti-Corruption Court has its peculiarities, it has a single constitutional function, namely administration of justice in a clearly defined category of cases. The HACC is not a special court, and its activities are consistent with legislation.
Now, the CCU is still considering a number of anti-corruption issues, including the declarations and lifestyle monitoring. We believe that by abolishing the duty to declare assets, the court would launch irrevocable change in bringing corrupt officials to criminal liability. This could be a significant setback to the achievements of anti-corruption reform in Ukraine.
The influence of the Constitutional Court on the life in our country is very noticeable and irreversible. We wish the Court happy birthday and to keep protecting the constitution professionally and steadfastly, without succumbing to political influence.
