The Constitutional Court of Ukraine will lose its quorum on January 27 and will no longer be eligible to hold sessions of the Grand Chamber and the Second Senate after the simultaneous resignation of its three judges.
This was reported by an informed source in the court in a comment to Ukrinform.
“The powers of three judges at once – Viktor Kryvenko, Volodymyr Moisyk, and Viktor Kolisnyk – will be terminated on January 27. Only 11 judges will remain in the Constitutional Court while there shall be 18. We were told that the Constitutional Court would be restaffed in February, and now someone is already saying that, most likely, it will be done in April. These are unofficial talks as no one has formally promised us anything,” he said.
According to Ukrinform’s source, there are currently 14 judges in the Constitutional Court, and after the triple resignation, there will be no quorum to hold sessions of the Grand Chamber, which requires the presence of 12 judges, and the votes of at least 10 judges are required for decision-making.
Due to the loss of the quorum, the sessions of the Grand Chamber, where constitutional motions are considered, will be suspended. The work of the Constitutional Court senates, which hear constitutional complaints, will also be complicated. In particular, the Second Senate will be deemed inoperable as five judges out of the required six will remain in place so only the First Senate will continue its work.
“Six judges is the minimum number for the senate to launch a session. The First Senate will be able to consider constitutional complaints, but the Second one won’t,” the agency’s interlocutor noted.
In connection with the resignation of three judges at once, a ceremonial meeting is scheduled for January 27, for which official invitations have already been sent out.
Among the judges who are resigning is the current acting chairman of the court, Viktor Kryvenko. Due to the fact that the Constitutional Court has neither a chairman nor a deputy, Kryvenko heads the court as the oldest judge. In his absence, Volodymyr Moisyk performs these powers. It is expected that after their resignation on January 27, the duties of the chairman of the Constitutional Court will be performed by Oleksandr Petryshyn as the oldest judge on board.
In May last year, the judges of the Constitutional Court held a special plenary meeting, at which the issue of electing the chairman of the court was considered. At that time, only Volodymyr Moisyk nominated his candidacy for the position of chairman, but he never received the required number of votes to pass.
According to the agency’s interlocutor, currently no judge is nominating their candidacy for the position of chair. It is expected that new elections will be held after the composition of the Constitutional Court is replenished with new judges.
The Advisory Group of Experts (AGE) is responsible for selecting judges for the Constitutional Court. It is designed to assess integrity and competence in the field of law among candidates pitched by the Verkhovna Rada, the President, and the Congress of Judges of Ukraine.
Ukrinform enquired from the AGE about the progress of the competitive selection.
The response states that three competitive selections are underway. On January 14, the Advisory Group launched interviews with candidates for five positions two nominated by Parliament and three – by President.
It is noted that the AGE plans to complete the interviews by around January 22 before deciding on their integrity compliance.
Based on the results of the assessment, the AGE will forward the ranked lists of candidates to the appointing entities – the Verkhovna Rada, the President, and the Congress of Judges for final decisions.
As a result, the Group plans to complete the assessment of the said group of candidates in the second half of February.
“The advisory group of experts conducts the assessment actually in the middle of the candidates’ path toward the position of a judge of the Constitutional Court,” the agency was told.
The AGE is also awaiting the decision of the Council of Judges on the admission of candidates to participate in the competition for two positions of CCU judges from the Congress of Judges. The acceptance of paperwork for this competition ended on January 9. After receiving all the documents, the AGE will begin assessing their moral qualities.
As reported, the Constitutional Court has been operating without a chair since early 2021, when President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the then head of the court, Oleksandr Tupytskyi. Subsequently, the Cassation Administrative Court of the Supreme Court granted Tupytskyi’s claim to the President, declaring the relevant decree unlawful and annulling it. At the same time, the Office of the President filed an appeal.
Tupytskyi never returned to his duties. On May 15, 2022, his powers as a judge expired. The State Bureau of Investigation is leading a number of criminal cases against Tupytskyi, including on charges of illegal border crossing.
After Tupytskyi was removed from office, the then Deputy Head of the Constitutional Court, Serhiy Holovatyi, served as CCU Chairman. In May 2024, his powers as a judge expired due to his reaching the age of 70. Since then, Viktor Kryvenko, as the oldest judge, has served as CCU Chairman.
Source: Constitutional Court to lose quorum Jan 27 once three judges resign at once - source
