Impeachment in Ukraine

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: In 2019 Ukrainian parliament legally changed impeachment rules for President and MP's, none of this is stated in this Wikipedia article.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2020)

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Impeachment in Ukraine is an expressed power of the legislature that allows for formal charges against the President. Article 111 of the Ukrainian Constitution states that "The President of Ukraine may be removed from office ... by the majority of the constitutional composition of the ... Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by the procedure of impeachment, in the event that he or she commits state treason or other crime."

Impeachment can also occur for People's Deputies of Ukraine.

President[]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Constitution of Ukraine

The issue of the removal of the President of Ukraine from office by the procedure of impeachment is initiated by the majority of the constitutional composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which is 226 votes.^[1] To conduct the investigation, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine establishes a special temporary investigatory commission whose composition includes a special Prosecutor and special investigators.^[1] The conclusions and proposals of the temporary investigatory commission are considered at a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. For cause, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, by no less than two-thirds of its constitutional composition, adopts a decision on the accusation of the President of Ukraine. The decision on the removal of the President of Ukraine from office by the procedure of impeachment is adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine by no less than three-quarters of its constitutional composition, after the review of the case by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine as well as the Supreme Court of Ukraine^[1] and the receipt of its opinion on the observance of the constitutional procedure of investigation and consideration of the case of impeachment, and the receipt of the opinion of the Supreme Court of Ukraine to the effect that the acts, of which the President of Ukraine is accused, contain elements of state treason or other crime.

In the event of the pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine in accordance with Articles 108, 109, 110 and 111 of Constitution, the execution of duties of the President of Ukraine, for the period pending the elections and the assumption of office of the new President of Ukraine, shall be vested in the Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.^[1] The Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, for the period of executing the duties of the President of Ukraine, shall not exercise the powers envisaged by subparagraphs 2, 6-8, 10-13, 22, 24, 25, 27, and 28 of Article 106 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada[]

The Ukrainian revolution of February 2014 took place after a series of violent events towards protesters in the capital of Kiev that culminated with the flight and subsequent then-President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych was removed from the office. There were no articles of impeachment against Yanukovych. The Verkhovna Rada Committee voted on February 22, 2014 MPs voted to "remove Viktor Yanukovych from the post of president of Ukraine" on the grounds that he was unable to fulfill his duties and to hold early presidential elections on May 25.^[2] The vote came an hour after Yanukovych said in a televised address that he would not resign. He subsequently declared himself to still be "the legitimate head of the Ukrainian state elected in a free vote by Ukrainian citizens".

Yanukovych signing agreement with opposition, 21 February 2014

The action did not follow the impeachment process as specified by the Constitution of Ukraine (which would have involved formally charging the president with a crime, a review of the charge by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, and a three-fourths majority vote – i.e. at least 338 votes in favor – by the Rada); instead, the Verkhovna Rada declared that Yanukovych "withdrew from his duties in an unconstitutional manner" and cited "circumstances of extreme urgency" as the reason for early elections. Oleksandr Turchynov was then voted by parliament Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament and acting President and Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Parliament[]

Article 80 of the Ukrainian Constitution states that the parliamentary immunity is guaranteed to the peoples' deputies of Ukraine. The peoples' deputies of Ukraine do not carry a legal responsibility for the results of voting and their saying in the parliament and its bodies, except the responsibility for an insult or defamation. The peoples' deputies of Ukraine cannot be held criminally liable, detained or arrested without the agreement of the Verkhovna Rada.

See also[]

• Trump-Ukraine Scandal

References[]