Verfassungsänderung und Normenkontrolle in der Ukraine

Abstract

The Constitution of Ukraine has been amended several times since its adoption in 1996. The relevant procedure is regulated in Articles 154-159 of the Constitution. In principle, these provisions are characterised by the fact that two different procedures - one is “normal”, while the other is more difficult - are provided for the amendment of constitutional provisions. It can also be deduced from Article 157 of the Constitution that the Ukrainian Constitution also contains so-called unchangeable constitutional law. This system is further superseded by the provision of Article 159 of the Constitution according to which a constitutional amendment project may only be considered by the Verchovna Rada if an opinion of the Constitutional Court on the compatibility of the draft with Articles 157 and 158 of the Constitution is provided; the constitutional amendment is thus connected with an obligatory preventive review of norms. Whether violations of these provisions can also be taken up in a subsequent review procedure is another important aspect of the entire regulatory complex. The Constitutional Court has indeed recognized this competence; of course, the relevant Decision of 30 September 2010 is not without errors and criticisms in legal doctrine. The subject of this article is to examine all these questions and to put them into a system. Also, the article shows the factual constitutional development over the last ten years and on this basis demonstrates the highly complex constitutional situation in which Ukraine finds itself today.