Відповіді

• 2004.02.11 | Augusto

  Rezolucija PARE No. 1364 (2004) (jaku "ne mig znajty" Litvin).

  1.The Assembly is deeply troubled by the recent
  developments in Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine relating to the
  consideration of the draft law on amendments to the Constitution of
  Ukraine and in this context refers to its Resolutions 1179 (1999),
  1239 (2001), 1244 (2001), 1346 (2003) and in particular to
  Recommendation 1451 (2000) on the institutional reform in Ukraine.
  It notes that recently a procedure has been initiated, which is not
  in compliance with the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada or
  Article 19 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
  
  2. The Assembly deeply regrets that the Ukrainian
  authorities, including the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of
  Foreign Affairs, consider the activities of the Council of Europe,
  namely the Assembly's monitoring procedure, the visits of the
  co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee and their statements as
  "interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine". In this regard,
  it recalls that Ukraine has voluntarily accepted the obligations
  arising from its membership according to the Statute of the Council
  of Europe. Therefore, the Assembly finds such a stand of the
  Ukrainian authorities groundless and unjustified.
  
  3. The Assembly supports any sincere aspirations by both
  the executive and the legislative authorities of Ukraine to pursue
  democratic reforms that would aim at substantially strengthening
  the legislative power and enhancing the independence of the
  judiciary, thus contributing to a greater separation of powers and
  an improved system of checks and balances as required by the
  standards of the Council of Europe.
  
  4. The nature of the reforms as well as the system of
  governance chosen is an internal affair of any sovereign state, but
  only as long as they are carried out with due respect to the
  fundamental law of the country.
  
  5. In this respect, the Assembly reiterates that the
  current Constitution in force since 1996 constitutes the main
  domestic legal instrument on the basis of which the country can
  develop a genuine democracy and insists on strict respect of its
  provisions, in particular as regards amendments to the
  Constitution, whatever their necessity and appropriateness.
  
  6. Within this context, the Assembly is convinced that any
  decision reforming the constitutional election rules taken on the
  eve of Presidential elections is likely to be biased and divisive
  and therefore considers the timing of the current debate on
  constitutional reform highly inappropriate.
  
  7. The Assembly strongly regrets the fact that the crisis
  in the Verkhovna Rada has been sparked by lack of discussion of the
  officially registered draft amendments to the Constitution, and the
  motions tabled by the Opposition. The Assembly finds that such
  practices are inappropriate in a democratic state guided by the
  principles of the rule of law.
  
  8. At the same time, it deplores the means the opposition
  has resorted to in retaliation in order to block the regular work
  of parliament.
  
  9. The Assembly refers to the opinion of the European
  Commission for Democracy through Law ("Venice Commission") adopted
  on 13 December 2003 which welcomed the efforts made for the
  reforming of the system of government to bring the Ukrainian system
  closer to European democratic standards but concluded that "the
  precise solutions chosen in the various drafts do not yet seem to
  have attained that aim and introduce other amendments to the
  Constitution that would appear to be a step backwards".
  
  10. The Assembly deplores the fact that none of the
  recommendations of the Venice Commission have been taken into
  account in the course of the revision of the three Draft Laws (nr
  3207-1, 4105 and 4180) by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine nor
  by the ad hoc parliamentary Constitutional Committee before
  submitting the Draft Law N° 4105 for discussion in the Verkhovna
  Rada. The Assembly therefore urges the relevant Ukrainian
  authorities to take into account all recommendations made so far by
  the Venice Commission and to continue to hold an open and effective
  dialogue with the Commission with a view to further improving the
  draft laws currently under debate.
  
  11. The Assembly launches an urgent appeal to the parties
  and blocks, to parliamentary factions and groups represented in the
  Verkhovna Rada to resolve their problems in a peaceful manner
  through an open dialogue and full respect for parliamentary rules
  and regulations by means of:
  
  i. securing the legitimacy of any constitutional reform by
  admitting that, in this instance, the Rules of Procedure of the
  Verkhovna Rada failed to be respected by all parties concerned,
  taking into account that "voting by raising hands" in parliament is
  not provided for by law, including the Rules of Procedure;
  
  ii. proceeding to an open debate on all three Draft Laws
  (nr 3207-1, 4105 and 4180) on constitutional amendments which would
  involve a proper public information and a nation-wide popular
  discussion on these issues, especially pluralistic political
  debates on national TV and Radio channels;
  
  iii. fully taking into account the recommendations of the
  Venice Commission while amending the Constitution and in particular
  reconsidering their position regarding the imperative mandate of
  national deputies, the limitation to ten years of the judges'
  tenure and the extension of the mandate of the Prosecutor General,
  which all conflict with the principles of democracy and the rule of
  law;
  
  iv. ensuring that the next presidential election be held as
  scheduled and for the term prescribed in the current Constitution,
  in view of the fact that changing the election modalities
  immediately before the elections are due can only but confuse the
  electorate;
  
  v. agreeing to submit any constitutional changes relating
  to the term and mode of election of a president to a nation-wide
  referendum as provided in Article 156 of the Constitution in force.
  
  12. The recent rulings of the Constitutional Court have once
  again shown the vulnerability of the independence of the judiciary
  in Ukraine. In the earnest belief that only a fully independent
  judiciary can provide the stability that is necessary to establish
  the rule of law, the Assembly is concerned by the ruling of the
  Constitutional Court of Ukraine of 25 December 2003 (Nr 22-rp) as
  it corresponds neither to the present nor to the previous
  Constitution of Ukraine in force when President Kuchma was first
  elected in 1994. The Assembly still hopes that the President of
  Ukraine will demonstrate democratic responsibility by stepping down
  at the end of his second term as foreseen by the Constitution of
  Ukraine.
  
  13. With regard to the forthcoming Presidential elections in
  October 2004, the Assembly shares the concern of many Ukrainian
  citizens that the election may not be truly free, fair, open and
  transparent. It maintains that any form of authoritarian practices
  like intimidation of voters, pressures on elections commissioners,
  curtailing the freedom of expression or bias of the media in favour
  of some candidates of the ruling political forces is clearly
  unacceptable. When full respect has been given to all these
  elements, the outcome of the elections also has to be respected.
  
  14. The Assembly calls upon the President of Ukraine to
  submit in the nearest future the proposed candidates to fill the
  seats in the Central Electoral Commission which are vacant since
  the expiry of the mandate of the former incumbents.
  
  15. In the light of the above findings, the Assembly calls
  upon the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to urgently
  appoint a Special Representative in Ukraine whose mandate should be
  to follow current political developments in Ukraine, to provide
  advice and Council of Europe expertise if and when needed and
  generally to enhance and co-ordinate the ongoing co-operation with
  Ukrainian authorities.
  
  16. It also considers that the activities relating to the
  Council of Europe media action plan agreed with Ukraine should be
  stepped up in order to achieve a noticeable improvement of the
  general framework in which media operate and to promote substantial
  changes in the media culture in view of the forthcoming election
  campaign.
  
  17. The Assembly is also concerned about the recent events
  in the town of Mukachevo concerning elections of the mayor and
  urges to resolve this problem in accordance with the legislation of
  Ukraine. The Assembly recommends that the Congress of Local and
  Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe undertake the
  monitoring mission over the future elections of mayor in the town
  of Mukachevo aiming at free and impartial elections.
  
  18. The Assembly is of the opinion that the recent
  infringements of the voting procedures in the Verkhovna Rada
  violate Ukraine's obligations under Article 3 of the Statute of the
  Council of Europe. If any further attempts should be made to push
  through political reforms by amending the Constitution in a manner
  which is not prescribed by law and by unconstitutional means, or if
  Ukraine should fail to guarantee free and fair elections on 31
  October 2004, the Assembly may decide to challenge the credentials
  of the Ukrainian Delegation in accordance with Rule 9 of the
  Assembly's Rules of Procedure and subsequently may decide to
  request the Committee of Ministers to suspend the membership of
  Ukraine in the Council of Europe in accordance with Article 8 of
  the Statute of the Council of Europe.
  
  19. The Assembly will continue to closely follow the
  developments in Ukraine and stands ready to contribute to an
  effective dialogue between the political forces represented in the
  Verkhovna Rada.
  ______________________________________________________________
  
  [1] Assembly debate on 29 January 2004 (7^th sitting) (see
  Doc.10058, report of the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations
  and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe
  (Monitoring Committee), Co-Rapporteurs: Mrs Severinsen and Mrs
  Wohlwend). Text adopted by the Assembly on 29 January 2004 (7^th
  Sitting) .