President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fulfilled his constitutional duty and appointed two judges to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine to the relevant positions, which have remained vacant since March this year.
Candidates were selected through an open and transparent competition.
22 domestic lawyers, including OSCE experts, judges, CEC members, academic scholars, lawyers, etc., expressed their desire to take part in the competition. Seven of them were defined by the competition commission as the most worthy and professional. Based on the results of interviews conducted with these candidates, Volodymyr Zelenskyy identified two of the most professional among them:
- Petryshyn Oleksandr Vitaliyovych, President of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine.
- Hryshchuk Oksana Viktorivna, Professor of Ivan Franko Lviv National University.
The relevant presidential decrees were signed on November 26, 2021.
Thanks to the President's decision and a competitive procedure, which can’t be doubted, Ukraine overcame the constitutional crisis provoked by the Constitutional Court's decision of October 27, 2020, which threatened the entire system of anti-corruption institutions and the country's European future.
On that day, the Constitutional Court declared certain provisions of the anti-corruption legislation of Ukraine unconstitutional, among other things, abolished criminal liability for inaccurate declaration and inclusion of knowingly inaccurate information in the declaration. The content of this decision, the nature of its adoption, the arguments and internal motives of individual judges of the then Constitutional Court caused fair indignation not only of Ukrainians, but also of representatives of international institutions and partner states of Ukraine.
"We were simply confronted with the fact that several people related to Yanukovych could adopt a decision in violation of all possible rules, which destroys Ukraine's achievements over decades," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Together with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, a mechanism was developed to restore the system of declaration and return real responsibility for lies and manipulation in the declarations of officials and deputies. The President signed laws passed by the Parliament to restore the anti-corruption system and the powers of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption to verify declarations and monitor the lifestyles of those concerned, taking into account the peculiarities of the procedure for judges and judges of the Constitutional Court.
"Legally and politically, we have removed any threats to the anti-corruption system. The question of the functioning of the Constitutional Court remained. Functioning in accordance with the Constitution, not in the interests of individuals who for some reason believed that the Constitutional Court was their property. The state has resolved this issue as well," the President stressed.
At a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council on March 19, 2021, among other things, a decision was made to audit all of Viktor Yanukovych's decrees. After a corresponding inspection and execution of this decision, on March 27, 2021, Viktor Yanukovych's decrees of May 14, 2013 "On the appointment of O. Tupytsky as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine" and September 17, 2013 "On the appointment of O. Kasminin as a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine" were revoked.
Thus, as of today, judges of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine appointed by the President of Ukraine are appointed and may perform their duties in accordance with the Basic Law.