Constitution of Ukraine

The draft of the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted on 28 June 1996 by the Verkhovna Rada, the Parliament of Ukraine. This Constitution replaced the still valid to 1995 Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR. The June 28 has since been celebrated as Constitution Day.

Components

The Constitution of Ukraine is based on the individual and inalienable human rights and embodying the principles of a social law, a democracy based on the separation of powers and popular sovereignty.

With the property rights of citizens who commits them, it also provides a guarantee for progress of privatization. She continues to provide the linguistic and cultural development of all ethnic groups in the country.

The direct election of the president by the people gives the President a strong position. He appoints the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet, but this needs to be confirmed by Parliament.

Election laws

Inexperience with the first steps of democratization led to a first election law requiring the involvement of an absolute majority of voters in each constituency. This led to a series of necessary by-elections and in a persistent understaffing of Parliament.

Constitutional amendments

The experience of the vote on the Constitution and the election of a new Parliament made ​​necessary changes. In the second general election in the spring of 1998 the number of necessary ballots and the number of parties decreased. Previously, a 4- percent threshold was introduced, so that the number of parties reduced to eight.

As part of the Orange Revolution in 2004, the constitution was amended so that the Prime Minister is no longer appointed by Parliament and the new president. The Constitutional Court declared this change in 2010 to be invalid.

In the course of Euromaidan protests, the Ukrainian parliament on February 21, 2014 decided to re-enactment of the Constitution version of 2004.