The Impact of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the Legal System of Ukraine

Abstract

This contribution looks at the application of EU case law by the Ukrainian judiciary in the course of implementation of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement, which triggered unprecedented political, economic, and legal reforms in Ukraine. Several issues form the focus of consideration in the chapter. The first issue is the evolution of EU–Ukraine relations and reform of the Ukrainian legal system and judiciary in the course of the ‘Europeanization’ of Ukraine since its independence in 1991. The second issue is effective implementation and application of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement within the Ukrainian legal order and its compatibility with the Ukrainian Constitution. The latest political and legal developments in Ukraine are analysed through the prism of effective implementation of the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement and the rise of pro-European reforms of the Ukrainian judiciary since the ‘Maidan Revolution’/‘Revolution of Dignity’ in 2014. In conclusion, it is argued that the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement enhanced the adaptability of the national constitutional order to the European integration project and reinvigorated judicial activism by Ukrainian judges to refer to the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).