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Will Stefanchuk head the Constitutional Court? What the Rada says

ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, may become the new head of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The court has been without a chairman since the summer of 2022 due to the suspension of Oleksandr Tupytskyi. This scenario of Stefanchuk’s transition from the Verkhovna Rada to the Constitutional Court was reported by Glavkom. Kommersant Ukrayinsky asked MPs whether the Rada is discussing Stefanchuk’s resignation and appointment as head of the CCU.

At the end of last month, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched a competition commission to select a candidate for the position.

The Constitutional Court of Ukraine consists of 18 judges who are elected for 9-year terms. According to the Constitution, the President, the Verkhovna Rada and the Congress of Judges of Ukraine appoint six judges to the Constitutional Court each following a competitive selection process.

Those wishing to take up a position at the Constitutional Court – lawyers, judges, law professors and law enforcement officials – can apply for a position and test their skills.

Currently, Serhiy Holovaty is acting chairman. The position of the President of the Constitutional Court will become vacant after 29 May this year, when Golovatyi turns 70 and his powers will be automatically terminated.

“The Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, is considering the option of becoming the head of the Constitutional Court. And now a window of opportunity is opening for the implementation of this plan,”

– several high-ranking interlocutors from various government institutions told Glavkom.

At the same time, MP Fedir Venislavskyi, who previously served as the president’s representative to the Constitutional Court, describes Stefanchuk as a creative person with high-level thoughts and ideas.

“Although he is not a constitutional law expert, but a civil law expert, his knowledge, thoughts and creative ideas on understanding constitutional and legal matter are at a very high level. If he makes the decision and goes through all the procedures, and the advisory group of experts recommends him to the president and he appoints him, then he will be one of the most powerful judges of the Constitutional Court,”

– Venislavsky believes.

Sources of Kommersant Ukrayinsky sources confirm that due to Zelenskyy’s lack of professional staff, the current Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, was considered for the post of the CCU chairman back in autumn.

It should be noted that Mykola Stefanchuk, a member of the Servant of the People party, who is Ruslan Stefanchuk’s younger brother, was a candidate for the position of a judge of the High Anti-Corruption Court and a judge of the Supreme Court in 2017. However, these attempts were unsuccessful.

Several MPs from the Servant of the People faction could not confirm to Kommersant Ukrainskyi the information about Stefanchuk’s transfer from the Verkhovna Rada to the Constitutional Court, as they had heard about it for the first time.

Georgiy Mazurashu, a majoritarian MP from Chernivtsi region who left the Servant of the People party but remained a member of the SN parliamentary faction, told Kommersant Ukrainskiy said that he had not noticed any heated discussions about Stefanchuk’s possible appointment.

“I saw this thesis yesterday. I have not noticed any heated discussions. Anything can happen,”

– he said.

MPs from the Servant of the People faction, Bohdan Kitsak and Volodymyr Vatras, heard for the first time about Ruslan Stefanchuk’s possible nomination to the position of a Constitutional Court judge.

“This is the first time I have heard of such information. Since there are currently no meetings in the Verkhovna Rada, I don’t know if this is being discussed on the sidelines. So I can neither confirm nor deny it,”

– Kitsak said.

Vatras noted that he did not see any mechanism for the MP’s transfer to the CCU

“I first heard about it today from the media. I think that the speaker is in his place, he has a lot of work in the Verkhovna Rada. And frankly, I do not see a mechanism for the MP’s transition to the CCU, because we have adopted amendments to the legislation that provide for fairly strict recruitment procedures. Both the PIC council and the commission with the participation of international experts. So for me, this is probably the same news as for other MPs. This issue was not discussed at all,”

– he said.

MP from the Servant of the People faction, Ihor Kryvosheev, told Kommersant Ukrainskyi said that the possible nomination of Ruslan Stefanchuk to the post of Constitutional Court judge was not discussed in the faction.

“The issue came up this morning. It was not discussed in the faction, so it is the same news for us as for the public. Therefore, there was no opportunity to discuss it behind the scenes with colleagues. Therefore, I cannot refute or confirm the information. I believe that Ruslan Stefanchuk is doing his job quite professionally. I hope that he will continue to work in this direction and in the same spirit,”

– said the MP.

Who can become the head of the Constitutional Court

According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the president of the Constitutional Court is elected by CCU judges by secret ballot for one three-year term.

To be eligible for the position of a CCU judge, a candidate must be a citizen of Ukraine, speak the state language, be 40 years old on the day of appointment, have a law degree and at least 15 years of professional experience in the field of law, “have high moral qualities and be a lawyer with a recognised level of competence.”

Author: Iryna Shevchenko