The bill stipulates that the Constitutional Court shall consist of 18 judges. The President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament, and the Congress of Judges of Ukraine shall appoint six judges each.
The draft law stipulates that the Constitutional Court shall consist of a Grand Chamber, two senates, and six panels. The Grand Chamber includes all judges of the Constitutional Court. The document also defines issues it is entitled to cover within its competence.
Read alsoSummary of Donbas reintegration bill: Russian occupation, liberation, division of powersThe basic salary of a Constitutional Court judge is set at the level of the official salary of a judge of the Supreme Court.
According to Ukrainian MP Yuriy Odarchenko (Batkivshchyna party), the monthly salary of the Constitutional Court Judge will be UAH 120,000, or US$ 4,631.
The bill stipulates that competitive selection of candidates for the position of the Constitutional Court Judge shall be carried out by commissions set up by the Ukrainian President, the Verkhovna Rada, the Congress of Judges of Ukraine, and the Council of Judges of Ukraine in the period between congresses of judges.
The judges shall be appointed for a period of nine years without a tenure prolongation option.
Read alsoUkraine can only be defeated from within, not by external enemies - TuskThe bill also lists cases when Constitutional Court judges may be dismissed. At the same time, a Constitutional Court judge cannot be detained or held in custody, arrested without the consent of the Constitutional Court until a conviction is pronounced by a court, with the exception of the detention of a judge during or immediately following the committing of a grave or especially grave crime.
The Senate consists of nine judges of the Constitutional Court. Senate members shall be approved by a decision of the Constitutional Court. The Senate, in particular, probes constitutionality of laws, their separate provisions as part of examining constitutional complaints, as well as other issues defined by the document.
At the same time, the bill provides for a new form of appeal to the Constitutional Court, namely a constitutional complaint a citizen can file.
The constitutional complaint is a written application submitted to the court for verification of compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine (constitutionality) of any law (its separate provisions), which has been applied in the final judicial decision in the applicant’s case. The subject of the right to a constitutional complaint is a person who believes that the law (its separate provisions) applied in the final judicial decision in their case contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine.
Read alsoEU agrees to creation of Anti-Corruption Chamber instead of special courtA constitutional complaint could be filed if the final judgment in the applicant’s case took effect no earlier than September 30, 2016.
In addition, the law amends the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses. In particular, it is stipulated that disrespect for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine by an interpreter, witness, expert, and other participants in the constitutional proceedings, attracted by the Constitutional Court to participate in the trial, entails of a fine from 20 to 100 tax-free minimum individual incomes.
The final provisions note that the law comes into force from the day following the day of its publication.
