Ukraine marks Constitution Day

This is the only state holiday enshrined in the Constitution itself.

The constitutional process began immediately after the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR on July 16, 1990, passed the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine. The Constitutional Commission was set up in October. In 1991-1996, several commissions separately established by parliament and president developed several drafts of the Constitution, which took long to finalize.

The issues of the division of power and property, state symbols, status of the Russian language and that of Crimea were the main stumbling blocks. The left -wing forces leaned toward downplaying the role of presidential power and private property relations, at the same time promoting the idea to grant equal status to the Ukrainian and Russian languages ​​and preserve Crimea’s autonomous status. Right-wingers, which rallied representatives of the then-leading party, business circles and lawmakers promoting national cultural and linguistic issues advocated a strong presidential vertical, guaranteeing full private property rights, Ukrainian language dominance, and the elimination of Crimea’s autonomy.

Meanwhile, the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR of 1978 remained in force in Ukraine with some amendments.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted and put into effect the Fundamental Law on June 28, 1996, at 9:18 Kyiv time, after almost a day of non-stop debate in a plenary session.

The document gained support of two-thirds of the legislative corps (315 MPs). It defined strong presidential power, guaranteed private property rights, approved new state symbols, the status of the Ukrainian language as the only state language, and recognized Crimea as an autonomous republic within Ukraine.

The Constitution consolidated the legal foundations of independent Ukraine, its sovereignty and territorial integrity, becoming an important step in ensuring human and citizen rights, and contributing to the further increase of Ukraine’s international weight on the global stage.

Since adoption, the Fundamental Law has been amended several times. At the same time, the 1996 Constitution of Ukraine provided for a rather strict procedure for amending or supplementing it. To approve amendments, from 2/3 to 3/4 votes from parliament’s constitutional composition are required. If the amendments abolish or restrict human or citizen rights and freedoms, or if they are aimed at eliminating independence or threatening territorial integrity, such amendments shall not be adopted.