Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, Oleksandr Tupytsky, has challenged in the Supreme Court the decree issued by President Volodymyr Zelensky on own dismissal from office.
That's according to the Supreme Court's press service.
"On February 1, the Administrative Court of Cassation that is part of the Supreme Court received a claim where the plaintiff appeals against the Decree of the President of Ukraine of December 29, 2020, No. 607/2020 'On the dismissal of a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine', from the moment of its adoption," the statement says.
Judging by the data published on the Sudova Vlada web portal, the plaintiff is CCU chief Judge Oleksandr Tupytsky, while President Volodymyr Zelensky is the defendant.
Read alsoPresident's Office: CCU statement defying Zelensky's decree "null and void"Tupitsky requests that the decree be declared unlawful and null.
Constitutional crisis in Ukraine: Background
On October 27, the Constitutional Court, on the motion of 47 MPs, adopted a decision repealing Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code, which had provided for liability for inaccurate declaration of assets by government officials.
The Constitutional Court also recognized unconstitutional the provisions of laws on the verification of e-declarations, and abolished the powers of the NACP to verify such declarations and identify conflict of interest.
President Volodymyr Zelensky tabled bill No. 4288 in parliament to terminate the powers of all Constitutional Court judges. The document states, in particular, that the decision of the Constitutional Court of October 27 is "null and void" (such that it does not create legal consequences) as such that was adopted by the Constitutional Court judges in conditions of a real conflict of interests." Zelensky proposes the termination of the powers of Constitutional Court judges, suggesting that actors authorized to appoint new judges immediately begin the competitive selection.
Head of the Constitutional Court Oleksandr Tupytsky claimed the president's proposals directly contradicted the Constitution.
The Venice Commission has acknowledged that the Constitutional Court's decision of October 27 "lacks clear reasoning, has no firm basis in international law, and was possibly tainted with a major procedural flaw – an unresolved question of a conflict of interest of some judges."
President Volodymyr Zelensky on December 29 suspended Oleksandr Tupytsky, Head of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, for a period of two months.
On January 25, 2021, the Ambassadors of the G7 countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan) in Ukraine have provided advice to the Ukrainian authorities on how to reform the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) and conduct judicial reform in general.
On January 27, 2021, President Zelensky recalled from the Rada his bill No. 4288 on terminating the powers of Constitutional Court judges.
On January 28, Chairperson of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov has requested the Venice Commission's opinion on draft laws regarding the Constitutional Court reform.
