Focus on constitutional adjudication

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Published: February 27, 2023

IRZ continued the long tradition of German-Ukrainian expert talks on constitutional law with the Constitutional Court of Ukraine online on 3-4 November 2022. IRZ had already participated in a multilateral online conference of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine in June 2022.

On the German side, these expert talks were conducted by former judges of the Federal Constitutional Court Prof Dr Reinhard Gaier and Prof Dr Udo Steiner, who have both been working for Ukraine for many years. The acting Chair of the Court, Vice-President Prof Serhiy Holovaty, and numerous other constitutional judges of Ukraine participated throughout the two-day conference for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

Administrative mangers and other representatives of the court also attended.

Prof Holovaty first reported on constitutional jurisprudence under war conditions. The talks then explored the possibilities of enforcing constitutional court decisions and the question of the disciplinary responsibility of constitutional judges. The introductory presentations on the subject by Constitutional Judge Prof Oleh Pervomaiskyi and Constitutional Judge Dr Halyna Jurov'ska (on enforcement) and Constitutional Judge Prof Vasyl Lemak (on disciplinary law) were followed by an expert discussion with their German counterparts, who in turn reported on their experiences in Germany. Finally, Prof Gaier described the selection process for the judges of the Federal Constitutional Court and emphasised the importance of the involvement of all the stakeholders to reach a consensus.

The selection procedure for the Constitutional Court of Ukraine is highly relevant, as the opinion of the EU Commission on granting Ukraine EU candidate status is demanding a reform of this procedure. A corresponding reform bill is currently being prepared in the Ukrainian parliament for a second reading. An opinion on this draft from the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has not yet been issued.

It is hoped that further expert exchanges can take place again soon in face-to-face format in Germany or Ukraine.