The Verkhovna Rada has supported, with the President’s proposals, the law “On amendments to certain laws concerning the development of the institute of jury” (bill No. 4535).
Some 259 MPs voted for the law at a plenary session on July 14.
The head of state noted that the document contains amendments to the law on the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CC), which do not concern the issues of the activities of the jury.
In particular, it was proposed to submit Article 11 of the Constitutional Court Law in a new version, which does not ensure the observance of the principle of political neutrality of the Constitutional Court judges, because the law excludes provisions that actually reveal the components of such neutrality.
The President says that the exclusion of these provisions creates the basis for an arbitrary interpretation of whether a particular candidate for the position of judge of the Constitutional Court meets the specified requirements.
The head of state draws attention to the fact that political neutrality is an integral part of the independence of judges, which is an integral element of the principle of the rule of law enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine. Consequently, the changes to the legislation, which were provided for by law, violate the Constitution and the principle of independence of the Constitutional Court.
Taking this into account, the president proposed to the parliament to exclude from the law “On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine concerning the development of the institute of jury” the clause on amendments to the Law “On the Constitutional Court of Ukraine”.
As reported, on April 15, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a law “On amendments to some laws concerning the development of the institute of jury” (bill No. 4535).
On June 3, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky vetoed this law and returned it to the Rada with his proposals.
