On June 28, Constitution Day is celebrated in Ukraine – the only state holiday enshrined in it. This year, as in 2022-2023, we have to celebrate Constitution Day in conditions of full-scale war.
The first two articles of the Constitution state that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent, democratic, social, legal state, and its territory within the existing border is integral and inviolable. Despite this, the Russian Federation grossly violated these constitutional norms by starting a war and occupying Ukrainian cities and villages.
In Ukraine, the right to life is enshrined in Article 27 of the Constitution of Ukraine:
“Every person has an inalienable right to life. No one can be arbitrarily deprived of life…”.
However, the Russian Federation also violated this constitutional norm, leaving thousands of Ukrainians dead.
How the articles of the Constitution are implemented within the state
President Zelenskyi said in his address in honor of Constitution Day:
“And from the first minutes of the war, millions of people proved that for them Ukraine really comes first. All those who thought first of all not about themselves. Who understands that in times of war a key duty comes to the fore. The 17th article of the Constitution: the protection of Ukraine is the most important function of the state and the cause of the entire Ukrainian people. Millions of Ukrainians prove their devotion to this every day. Heroes on the front lines and those who work hard to strengthen the state. Ukrainians who changed their lives, changed their profession, but did not change their choice in favor of freedom, Ukraine, Europe.”
Indeed, Ukrainians heroically defend their country, fulfilling their constitutional duty according to Articles 17 and 65, and even simply on their own initiative help our military in whatever way they can.
However, in addition to duties, the second section of the Constitution of Ukraine also defines the rights and freedoms of Ukrainians. At the same time, Article 64 emphasizes that some of them may be limited under the conditions of martial law, specifying the period of validity of these restrictions. However, restrictions on rights and freedoms are often carried out without proper justification and contrary to constitutional norms.
At the same time, the following rights and freedoms provided for by Articles 24, 25, 27−29, 40, 47, 51, 52, 55−63 of the Constitution cannot be limited:
- prohibition of restrictions based on race, skin color, political, religious and other beliefs, sex, ethnic and social origin, property status, place of residence, language or other characteristics, including gender;
- prohibition of deprivation of citizenship and the right to change citizenship, expulsion or extradition to another state, ensuring the protection of citizens staying abroad;
- prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
- restriction of freedom and personal integrity;
- restrictions on the inviolability of housing;
- housing rights;
- rights regarding marriage, family, childhood, motherhood and parenthood;
- limitation of children’s equality in their rights, prohibition of violence against them and their exploitation;
- regarding the protection of rights and freedoms, rights to judicial protection, rights to compensation at the expense of the state or local self-government bodies for material and moral damage;
- regarding retroactive effect of laws and regulatory acts;
- the right to professional legal assistance;
- the right to not comply with obviously criminal orders or orders;
- presumption of innocence, etc.
Despite this, a number of adopted laws go against the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine, or create legal conflicts, violating the rights of Ukrainians. Thus, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, believes that the law on mobilization has several clauses that violate the norms of the Ukrainian Constitution.
“I directly showed that the TCC are military units. According to our Constitution, military units cannot take part in restricting the rights of Ukrainian citizens, even if we legally have a military status. This is a direct provision of our Constitution… In Ukraine, the bodies that check citizens’ documents are the National Police, the State Border Service and the National Guard.” – said the ombudsman.
Another remark of Lubinets is the point according to which the head of the TCC can influence whether a citizen of Ukraine will dispose of his property in full or not.
“It is nonsense when a military officer decides that someone cannot sell their apartment. For this, again, there are relevant bodies of the executive power. Prescribe it if you want to increase the flow of mobilized people in Ukraine through this lens.” – believes Lubinets.
The illegal actions of TCC employees are daily covered in the mass media and social networks, but so far they continue to violate the provisions of the Constitution, as well as ignore the requirements of the current legislation.
What other constitutional norms are violated
Article 8 The Constitution emphasizes “The principle of the rule of law is recognized and applied in Ukraine. The Constitution of Ukraine has the highest legal force”. In practice, decisions of the Constitutional Court are not always implemented, and some legislative acts contradict constitutional norms.
Article 19 defines: “Bodies of state power and bodies of local self-government, their officials are obliged to act only on the basis, within the limits of authority and in the manner provided for by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine”. However, the authorities often exceed their powers or act contrary to the law, which undermines citizens’ trust in state institutions.
In article 21 defined: “All people are free and equal in their dignity and rights.” Despite this, equality of rights and opportunities is often violated in real life, in particular due to discrimination based on gender, age, and social status. In addition, the English Language Implementation Act was recently passed, which will close employment opportunities for those who do not speak English.
Article 27 emphasizes: “Every person has an inalienable right to life. No one can be arbitrarily deprived of life.” Also Article 28 determines: “Everyone has the right to respect for his dignity. No one shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Unfortunately, torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement agencies still remain a serious problem. To this should be added cases involving the behavior of TCC employees.
Article 34 guarantees freedom of speech and free expression of views. However, journalists often face censorship, threats, attacks and pressure from the authorities and oligarchs. For example, the murder of journalist Pavlo Sheremet, which has not yet been properly investigated. The same applies to Olesya Buzyna, a publicist and editor-in-chief of Segodnya.
Article 46 guarantees the right of Ukrainians to social protection. However, many citizens, especially pensioners and vulnerable sections of the population, do not receive adequate provision. Quite often there are delays in the payment of pensions and social assistance, especially in the frontline areas, they are not always paid in full, especially in remote regions. IDPs are also faced with delays in payments, and many of them have not received them at all despite the ongoing war.
Article 55 guarantees the right of Ukrainians to protect their rights and freedoms in court. However, in practice, problems with access to justice often arise, in particular due to delays in the consideration of cases, corruption and political pressure on judges. For example, delaying the consideration of Maidan cases, where the victims and families of the dead are still waiting for fair justice. At the same time, everyone sees how top corrupt officials are freed from responsibility for their criminal actions. With Article 24 emphasizes: “Citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and are equal before the law. There can be no privileges or restrictions based on race, skin color, political, religious and other beliefs, gender, ethnic and social origin, property status, place of residence, language or other characteristics. That is, it turns out that not everyone is equal before the law, there are more equals, and constitutional norms are violated in this way.
At the same time Article 126 declares the independence of the judiciary. However, in practice, it still remains dependent on state authorities and political influences. An example of this is the influence on judges of the Constitutional Court in important cases.
Cases of violation of constitutional norms can still be continued. For example, the recent innovations of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine regarding graduate students are illegal and violate three articles of the Constitution at once (Articles 24, 64, 53), destroying science in Ukraine.
And how is it performed? Article 3 of the Constitution of Ukraine “A person, his life and health, honor and dignity, inviolability and security are recognized as the highest social value in Ukraine. Human rights and freedoms and their guarantees determine the content and direction of state activity. The state is responsible to the people for its activities. Affirmation and provision of human rights and freedoms is the main duty of the state”, everyone already knows so well.
So, happy holiday to you, dear Ukrainians!
