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The representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in the Constitutional Court, Olga Sovgirya, said that on January 5, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, during a meeting of judges, will consider the decree of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on the removal of the president of the Tribunal, Oleksandr Tupitsky. On December 30, 2020, the KSU reported that they would not remove Tupitsky from his post, despite the decree of the head of state.
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine on January 5 at a meeting of judges will consider the decree of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, on the removal of the president of the court, Oleksandr Tupitsky. This was announced on January 4 by a representative of the Verkhovna Rada From Ukraine Olga Sovgirya at the Constitutional Court on her Facebook page.
According to her, the judges of the Constitutional Court present at the meeting may not declare the presidential decree unconstitutional on their own initiative. According to the procedure, the decision on the constitutionality of any act is taken after the corresponding constitutional presentation, exclusively in plenary session.
“The adoption by the Constitutional Court of any decision regarding the unconstitutionality of the presidential decree without observing the procedure prescribed by law, and in the interest of one of the judges of the Constitutional Court, may contain corpus delicti under article 364 of the Penal Code of Ukraine (abuse of power or official position), “he said.
Since the presidential decree is in force and was not recognized in the prescribed manner as illegal or unconstitutional, in accordance with Part 3 of art. 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine, is binding on the territory of Ukraine, he said.
“Thus, in a meeting of judges or in a special plenary session of the Constitutional Court, the issue of the subsequent organization of the court’s work can be resolved, taking into account the dismissal of Judge Tupitsky,” he added.
Tupitsky was appointed a Constitutional Court judge in May 2013 based on the president’s quota. He headed the KSU in September 2019.
On December 28, 2020, he was supposed to appear at the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine (UCP) to present a suspicion of bribery of a witness and the deliberately false testimony of a witness (article 386 and part 2 of article 384 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). According to the Attorney General’s Office, Tupitsky reported that he could not come for family reasons, but did not provide documents on the validity of the reasons for the lack of appearance.
The UCP press service sent a message about the suspicion to Tupitsky by mail. In addition, the department sent Zelensky a petition to remove Tupitsky from the post of judge for two months.
On December 29, Zelensky signed the decree, stating that he did so “in order to restore justice and resolve the constitutional crisis.”
In the document itself He saysthat Tupitsky was removed from office on the basis of Part 3 of art. 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine (she foreseesthat the question of the removal of the persons appointed by the president is decided on the basis of a request from the prosecutor in the manner prescribed by law).
On December 30, the KSU released a statement emphasizing that it would not remove Tupitsky from office, despite Zelensky’s relevant decree. The Constitutional Court said that Zelensky’s decree does not comply with the Constitution, as the main document does not give the president the right to remove the judges from the Constitutional Court. Furthermore, the Constitution does not at all provide for the possibility of dismissing a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, the court notes.
In the Office of the President, people who posted a message about the unconstitutionality of Tupitsky’s expulsion on the website of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine were threatened with criminal responsibility.
The presidential representative in the KSU Fedor Venislavsky believes that the president has the right to remove Tupitsky. He said that such powers of the head of state are provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Later, Venislavsky once again confirmed the position of the Office of the President with respect to Tupitsky.
As Yulia Kirichenko, an expert in constitutional law, said in a comment to GORDON, the procedure to remove the judges of the Constitutional Court has not been detailed. Therefore, the president cannot comply with the request of the Attorney General’s Office and remove Tupitsky from office for two months, he said.
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