President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree on the suspension of the Head of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine Oleksandr Tupytsky from the position of a CCU judge for a period of two months.
"I am signing this decree in order to restore justice and resolve the constitutional crisis," the President stressed.
The decision was made after specialists from the Office of the President received and processed a request from the Office of the Prosecutor General signed by the Acting Prosecutor General to suspend CCU judge Oleksandr Tupytsky from office for two months.
Deputy Head of the Office of the President Andriy Smirnov noted that the petition was submitted in pursuance of article 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which envisages that officials appointed by the President of Ukraine are suspended from office at the request of the prosecutor, and the decision is made by the President.
"We have not established any reservations about the possibility of its consideration and adoption of appropriate decisions," he said.
"Of course, I support the President's decision to suspend Mr. Tupytsky from the post of a judge of the Constitutional Court. First of all, it is a logical continuation of the process we started in the parliament, when we collected 226 signatures of people's deputies appealing to the CCU to resign voluntarily, because now there is no public trust in this institution," head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada David Arakhamia noted.
He also added that the Head of the CCU was served with charge papers by the Office of the Prosecutor General under articles about a conflict of interest.
According to the experts in the field of constitutional law, neither the Constitution of Ukraine nor the Law of Ukraine on the Constitutional Court determine a special procedure of such a procedural action as the suspension of a CCU judge from office, as stated by representative of the President of Ukraine in the Constitutional Court Fedir Venislavsky.
"This is not a dismissal, this is not the termination of his powers as a judge, this is a temporary measure provided by the CPC of Ukraine, article 154. The President of Ukraine issues decrees to implement the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, according to the Constitution. Pursuant to article 154, a person appointed by the President of Ukraine may be suspended for up to two months during the pre-trial investigation. Hence, the President of Ukraine is acting in full compliance with his constitutional powers suspending Mr. Tupytsky from the post of a CCU judge for two months,” Fedir Venislavsky said.