Constitutional Court / Photo from UNIAN

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) on September 29 will consider constitutionality of the farmland market law, upon the appeal of a group of 48 people's deputies disputing new legislation.

"At 10:00 on September 29, the Grand Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine at the open part of the plenary session in the form of oral proceedings will hear the case on the constitutional submission of 48 lawmakers of Ukraine regarding the constitutionality of the Law of Ukraine 'On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine concerning farmland turnover' of March 31, 2020, No. 552-IX, certain provisions of the Land Code of Ukraine as amended by this law, and 53 MPs of Ukraine regarding the constitutionality of the Law of Ukraine 'On amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine concerning farmland turnover' of March 31, 2020, No. 552-IX," the CCU's Department of Communications of and Legal Monitoring reported on the court's website.

The authors of the motions argue that farmland, as an object of property rights of the Ukrainian people, is the main national wealth under the special protection of the state, which primarily concerns agricultural land.

Видео дня

Authors claim the Parliament has passed the bill in violation of the constitutional procedure, while its provisions allegedly contradict Constitutional norms.

Read alsoWorld Bank calls on Ukraine to speed up adoption of laws for farmland marketThe MPs emphasize that the issue of free farmland turnover must be decided solely at a referendum.

Background

On April 28, 2020, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill into law to amend certain legislative acts of Ukraine on the conditions of circulation of farmland No. 552-IX, which was approved by the Verkhovna Rada on March 31, 2020.

On May 4, 48 lawmakers submitted a motion to the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of certain provisions of this law and the Land Code.

On May 21, the Constitutional Court received another submission from 53 lawmakers to declare the law on the farmland market unconstitutional.