Question

In a short essay make clear what you understand to have been the most important constitutional problems that have faced Ukraine since independence.

Answer 1

As we know the the Constitution of Ukraine is the fundamental law of Ukraine. The constitution was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine on June 28, 1996. The constitution was passed with 315 ayes out of 450 votes possible (300 ayes minimum).Now the question arises as bot the most important constitutional problems that have faced Ukraine since independence.

One of the biggest problem and collisions of the Ukrainian Constitution is the balance of power between the President and the Parliament. It is this balance that has seen the biggest battles unfold around it over the past two decades. For ten years – between 1996 and 2006, Ukrainians lived in a parliamentary-presidential republic where the President enjoyed wide powers. Then between 2006 and 2010 – Ukraine turned into a presidential-parliamentary republic with the strong Parliament. Afterwards there was a switch back to the presidential model that lasted four years until 2014. Finally, after Euromaidan the Parliament regained more powers once again. The return to the parliamentary-presidential model occurred in February 2014 after the presidential powers of Viktor Yanukovych were suspended.The numerous amendments made to the Supreme Law in course of all the political battles of the past decades are not the only problem of Ukraine’s Constitution. Other drawbacks include imperfect text and, in particular, the contradictory definition of economic rights that may become an obstacle on the way to reforms. So that the voices of those aiming for the new Constitution will be becoming louder each time.The Constitution contains a series of economic rights that the state cannot provide for. “This Constitution has served its term for a series of reasons. Firstly, it is unrealistic. When the Constitution is lying, so does everyone else. The Constitution contains a whole block of rights, the so-called economic rights that only the countries having the GDP per capita of USD 30 thousand per year may afford. When they talk about affordable accommodation, free healthcare and education here, they are actually killing the healthcare, doctors, patients and higher education – neither of our universities entered the world’s top 100 ranking,” lawyer and activist Hennadiy Druzenko said during the forum “The Country’s New Plan” (Novyi kurs krayiny) organized by Yuliya Tymoshenko. The healthcare reform that kick-started this year has already come across the criticism: the aspirations of the healthcare reformers to clearly define free and paid services, introduce insurance-based healthcare system have already come across a populist argument that the Constitution stipulates the right to “free healthcare”.Moreover the Constitution is being often criticized for being eclectic – comprising the provisions from the Soviet Union times and the current European ones. From the very beginning it was a transitional document requiring change. One may clearly sense the conflict between the then-left forces (the Socialist Party) and the then-reformers (Leonid Kuchma’s party) in the text of the Supreme Law. These contradictions do not come to a compromise, instead they lead to eclecticism and result in contradictory provisions.

Today, Ukraine is a country that can lose its chance at democracy. The victory of Euromaidan provided Ukrainian citizens, and our post-Soviet neighbours, with the prospect of building a polity that could gr ant politicalliberties, economic freedom and local self-governance — an important example in a region of dictatorships.Ukraine constitution is called the permanent battlefield for politics. The people of Ukraine didn't feel safe anyways,as the said constitution deprived the rights of whole country since independence.the most valuable and precious rights of masses of said constitution are not entitled like education and health ...as we know education is the backbone of country and health is the most wealthy.From the above discussion we can said the people of Ukraine are not entitled their rights fully since independence as rights are the basic necessities of life and we can say that without rigths there is no safe life.