U.S. embassy: Constitutional crisis is of growing concern to Ukraine's partners
"The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the EU, Japan, and Germany are following with greater concern the latest developments surrounding the Constitutional Court's decision. We urge all parties to come together in dialogue, rise to the challenge and find a solution to the crisis," the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine posted on Twitter.
— U.S. Embassy Kyiv (@USEmbassyKyiv) November 2, 2020
The diplomats note that this is needed to restore people's faith that the state is able both to fight corruption and continue Ukraine’s constitutionally enshrined European and Euro-Atlantic course.
As reported, the constitutional crises emerged in Ukraine after the Constitutional Court on October 27 declared unconstitutional Article 366-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine that provides for punishment for inaccurate declaration of assets.
On October 28, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) closed access to the unified state register of asset declarations in pursuance of a ruling of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine. The NACP stated that Constitutional Court judges had made this decision in their own interests as the agency found signs of some of them declaring inaccurate information.
On October 29, President Volodymyr Zelensky held an urgent closed-door meeting of the National Security and Defense Council to determine measures for the immediate proper response of the state to new threats and challenges to national security and defense.
On October 30, Zelensky tabled in the Verkhovna Rada the bill "On Renewal of Confidence in Constitutional Judiciary," which proposes to terminate the powers of judges of the Constitutional Court, declare its ruling on asset declarations "null and void" and repeal the relevant amendments the law "On Corruption Prevention." In addition, it is envisaged that the powers of the composition of the Constitutional Court will be terminated from the date of entry into force of this law.
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