The Constitution of Ukraine was adopted at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine, on June 28, 1996 (315 ayes; 300 ayes required for approval). The Constitution is the fundamental law of the land: laws and other normative legal acts must conform to it. The right to amend the Constitution through a special legislative procedure is vested exclusively with the parliament. The only body that may interpret the Constitution and determine whether legislation conforms to it is the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

History of Constitution

Until June 8, 1995, Ukraine's supreme law was the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Ukrainian SSR (adopted in 1978, with numerous later amendments). On June 8, 1995, President Leonid Kuchma and Speaker Oleksandr Moroz (acting on behalf of the parliament) signed the Constitutional Agreement for the period until a new constitution could be drafted.
Present Constitution was adopted at a dramatic overnight parliamentary session of June 27 - June 28, 1996, semi-officially known as "the constitutional night of 1996". The Law No. 254/96-BP ratifying the Constitution, nullifying previous Constitution and the Agreement was ceremonially signed and promulgated in mid-July 1996. However, according to a ruling of the Constitutional Court, current Constitution took force at the moment when the results of the parliamentary vote were announced, i.e., June 28, 1996, at approximately 9a.m. (Kyiv time).

History of Amendments

On December 8, 2004, the parliament passed the Law No. 2222-IV amending the Constitution. The law was approved by an overwhelming majority (402 ayes, 21 nays, and 19 abstentions; 300 ayes required for passage) simultaneously with other legislative measures aimed at resolving the presidential election crisis. It was signed almost immediately in the parliamentary chamber by outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and promulgated on the same day. Most of the amendments will take force on September 1, 2005, conditionally on passing a set of amendments reforming local self-government, or on January 1, 2006, should the constitutional reform of self-government fail. The remaining amendments will take force on the day when new parliament assembles after the 2006 elections.

See also

• Government of Ukraine
• Politics of Ukraine

External Links

• Official text (in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament
• English translation - site of the parliament
• Verbatim account of the final meeting of the Parliament on June 28, 1996 (in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament
• Amendments (Law No. 2222-IV, in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament
• Constitution of 1978 (in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament
• Constitutional Agreement of 1995 (in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament
• Declaration on the State Sovereignity of July 16, 1990 (in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament
• Declaration of Independence Act of August 24, 1991 (in Ukrainian) - site of the parliament